The killing of Swechchhasebak Dal leader Mostafizur Rahman Musabbir has once again exposed a troubling reality: organised crime is resurging through the gaps of justice system.
Police officials now openly acknowledge what many traders and residents have feared for months that the key figures of the capital’s underworld, released on bail after years behind bars, are reclaiming territory, reviving extortion networks and reasserting control through violence.
Since the 5 August 2024 mass uprising and the subsequent political transition hundreds of detainees held under the Special Powers Act have been released on bail. Alongside them were some of Dhaka’s most notorious criminals—men once considered pillars of the city’s organised crime structure. Their release has altered the criminal landscape.
What followed was predictable.
From bail to absconding
According to police records, a significant number of these individuals failed to comply with bail conditions, including mandatory court appearances. Within weeks of release, several vanished. Today, police classify many as absconders, with multiple arrest warrants pending.
Among them are names long synonymous with organised crime: Mohammadpur’s Imamul Hasan Helal alias Picchi Helal, Mirpur’s Abbas Ali alias Killer Abbas, Badda’s Khorshed Alam alias Freedom Rasu, Moghbazar’s SM Arman alias Arman, Dhanmondi’s Khandaker Naim Ahmed alias Titon, Tejgaon’s Sheikh Mohammad Aslam alias Sweden Aslam and Hazaribagh’s Sanzidul Islam alias Iman.
As many thoughts, these individuals did not return to normal life. They returned to command instead.
The old networks never died
Police investigations suggest that many of these criminals never truly lost control of their networks, even while incarcerated. From inside prison or while in hiding they continued to influence extortion rackets, land grabbing and contract violence and murders through trusted lieutenants.
Once released, the transition was swift. Territory was reclaimed. Old disputes resurfaced. New alliances were forged.
And bail gave them legitimacy, not reform. They came out to a criminal ecosystem that was waiting for them.
Violence as a signal
In the past 18 months, police say half a dozen murders in Dhaka have direct or indirect links to top criminals now out on bail or absconding. These killings were not random. They served a purpose: to settle scores, assert dominance or silence resistance.
On 20 September 2024, two youths were hacked to death in Rayerbazar. A case was filed against Picchi Helal. In April last year, Jubo Dal leader Arif Sikder was murdered in Hatirjheel. In May, BNP leader Kamrul Ahsan was killed in Badda. Police say underworld figure Subrata Bain was linked to both cases. In Old Dhaka, Tarique Saeed Mamun was murdered near the court premises, with investigators suspecting the involvement of fugitive criminal Iman.
In Pallabi, the killing of Jubo Dal leader Golam Kibriya revealed the involvement of “Four Star Group”, an old organised criminal outfit emerged in the mid-1990s.
According to law-enforcement agencies, these are not isolated incidents. Rather, they show a pattern—criminal leadership returning to the streets.
Extortion returns to the markets
Nowhere is the impact more visible than in Dhaka’s commercial hubs.
Karwan Bazar, Mohammadpur, Badda, Mirpur, Motijheel and Pallabi have all reported renewed extortion demands. Traders describe familiar tactics: fixed monthly payments, threats of violence, and warnings delivered through intermediaries.
In Karwan Bazar, traders say tensions had been escalating for days before Musabbir’s killing, with protests erupting over extortion demands. The murder, investigators believe, may be tied to disputes over control of these illicit collections.
Extortion is the backbone of organised crime. Once that revenue stream reopens, violence follows.
Bail without oversight
Legal experts point to a systemic failure: bail decisions made without adequate risk assessment or post-release monitoring.
Bail is a legal right, but it is not unconditional. When repeat offenders with long criminal histories are released without supervision, the consequences are inevitable. The killer of Inquilab Mancha convenor Sharif Osman Hadi is an example. The principal suspect, Bangladesh Chhatra League’s former activist Faisal Karim Masud, was released on bail despite his arrest on several serious criminal offence.
Police officials admit monitoring capacity is limited. With hundreds released simultaneously, tracking compliance—court appearances, movement restrictions, associations—became nearly impossible.
The system was overwhelmed and criminals exploited that.
Fear replaces faith
For ordinary citizens, the consequences are immediate. Traders speak of fear replacing trust. Residents report a return to “old Dhaka rules,” where disputes are settled by muscle, not law.
The psychological impact is significant. When people see killers walking free, confidence in the justice system collapses. That vacuum empowers crime.
A cycle repeating itself
Bangladesh has seen this pattern before: mass releases, weak oversight, criminal resurgence, then belated crackdowns. Each cycle leaves deeper scars.
In May last year, joint forces arrested two fugitive criminals—Subrata Bain and Mollah Masud—in Kushtia. Police say such arrests are important but insufficient. Without structural reform, they argue, the cycle will continue.
What Comes Next
Investigators now fear that political violence and organised crime are converging once again. As elections approach, criminal networks embedded in extortion and turf control become valuable tools—capable of funding campaigns, intimidating rivals and shaping outcomes. The danger is not just crime. It’s criminal influence.
Law enforcement agencies claim they are reassessing bail monitoring, accelerating warrant executions and mapping revived criminal networks. But privately, police officials concede that policing alone cannot fix what is fundamentally a justice system failure.
Without tighter bail scrutiny, real-time monitoring and faster trials, the message to the underworld remains clear: prison is temporary; power is permanent.
The killing of Musabbir could be the clearest warning that Dhaka’s underworld, given a second chance without safeguards, has wasted no time in reclaiming the streets.
And this time, the cost may be far higher than before.
