Fishermen are losing their lives in pirate gunfire while out fishing. Boat workers are being beaten and hacked with machetes for refusing to pay extortion money. Cargo vessels are being looted, with fertiliser and other goods being stolen. Other crimes committed along river routes include kidnapping, robbery, drug smuggling and illegal sand extraction. Members of the River Police are also coming under attack while conducting operations to prevent these crimes.
Several senior River Police officials told Prothom Alo that fear intensifies along river routes as soon as night falls. Attacks and other criminal activities are taking place on various types of vessels, including passenger trawlers, fishing boats, cargo vessels and bulkheads.
According to the officials, criminals are increasingly choosing river routes because law enforcement surveillance is less extensive there than on land, despite the vast stretches of waterways that need to be monitored. As a result, river-related crime is on the rise.
The River Police divides the country’s waterways into 11 regions to maintain law and order and control crime. In these regions, a total of 2,085 cases were filed in 2024 involving murder, unnatural deaths, robbery, snatching, weapons, transportation of stolen goods, illegal sand extraction, kidnapping, extortion and drug-related offences. In 2025, the number of cases rose to 3,399—an increase of 1,314 in a single year.
From January to September this year, a further 505 cases were filed involving murder, robbery, kidnapping, piracy and unnatural deaths. Combining all categories of cases recorded in the previous two years with these five categories of cases filed during the first nine months of this year brings the total to 5,989.
Fisherman killed, vessels robbed
On the night of 1 February last year, a fisherman named Md. Hossain, 30, was killed by pirate gunfire while fishing in the Meghna River near East Ilisha union in Bhola Sadar upazila. Three other fishermen—Abbas, 32, Kanchan, 34, and Sohel, 29—were injured in the shooting. All four were residents of Baghar Hawla village in Bhola Sadar upazila.
The River Police said a group of river pirates attempted to rob the fishermen’s trawler that night. When the fishermen tried to resist, the pirates opened fire on them. The incident spread fear among fishermen in the area.
Shah Alam Mallick, general secretary of the Bangladesh Fishermen’s Federation, told Prothom Alo that robbers and river pirates attack fishing boats and passenger vessels along river routes bordering five districts.
The attacks generally take place after dusk in several areas: Haimechar in Chandpur; Lakshmichar and Kachikata in Shariatpur; the confluence of the Padma and Meghna rivers and adjoining river islands in Munshiganj; the Meghna River near Raipur in Lakshmipur; and the river islands along the Meghna near Hizla and Mehendiganj in Barishal.
Fishermen are injured or killed in these attacks, and their money, belongings and catches are looted. As a result, fishermen, vessel operators and passengers live in fear after dusk.
Shah Alam Mallick said that large-scale day-and-night operations by the Coast Guard, police and fisheries department to protect mother hilsa in the Padma and Meghna rivers have helped prevent major robberies for now. However, once the operations end and fishermen return to fishing, there is a risk of nighttime robberies in remote river-island areas. He said Coast Guard and police patrols must remain intensified to ensure the safety of fishermen and their property. In his view, increasing patrols along river routes bordering district boundaries and in remote river-island areas would help reduce such crimes.
Cargo vessels are also being targeted by robbers. On 10 October last year, criminals looted approximately 6,500 sacks of fertiliser, weighing 317 metric tonnes, from a bulkhead in the Meghna River near Narsingdi. The River Police later arrested 11 people on suspicion of involvement in the incident.
Earlier, on 23 December 2024, seven crew members of the fertiliser-carrying vessel MV Al-Bakhera were hacked and had their throats slit in the Meghna River at Haimechar in Chandpur. The brutal killings aboard the vessel also raised concerns about security along the country's river routes.
Attacks for Refusing to Pay Extortion Money; Police Also Targeted
Ahmadul Kabir Molla, vice-president of the Bangladesh Bulkhead Owners Association, told Prothom Alo that vessels are forced to pay extortion money under the guise of tolls at various locations. He said each vessel is charged Tk 2,000 while loading cargo on the river near Harirampur in Manikganj, Tk 500 at Ilisha in Bhola, and Tk 2,500 at each of Rustampur and Aminbazar in Savar.
He alleged that extortion is being collected from vessels under the pretext of tolls at various points along rivers across the country. He called for administrative intervention to stop the practice.
On the morning of 7 October last year, an organised group armed with traditional weapons, including spears and large machetes, stopped vessels on the Meghna River in Narayanganj and demanded extortion money. When the workers of a bulkhead named MV Zainab Brishti Paribahan refused to pay, two of them, Mohibullah and Zakaria, were beaten and hacked, leaving them injured.
After receiving the news, members of the Chalibhanga River Police Outpost went to the scene to conduct an operation. The extortionists attacked them as well, wielding tridents and spears. Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Maksud and Constables Sohag and Saidur were injured in the attack.
At one point, the police brought the situation under control by firing rubber bullets in self-defence. Two men, Rana and Sazzad, were arrested at the scene.
Mohammad Rezaul Karim, chief of the River Police and Additional Inspector General (Additional IGP), said that difficulties in filing cases and securing witness testimony are hampering efforts to curb extortion. He told Prothom Alo that although people complain about extortion on rivers, no one files cases against the extortionists. When the police file cases themselves, they are unable to prove the offences in court because of a lack of witnesses.
The River Police are also facing attacks while conducting operations to stop illegal sand extraction. On the night of 21 April this year, five members of the Laxmikunda River Police Outpost in Ishwardi, Pabna, were shot while carrying out an operation against illegal sand extraction in the Padma River near the Haripur area of Kushtia Sadar upazila.
In another incident, on the afternoon of 19 August, miscreants stabbed River Police Constable Zakir Hossain and struck him on the head with a brick as he was returning from a river patrol in Kawkhali, Pirojpur. Five police personnel, including River Police Outpost Inspector Mohammad Arman Hossain, were injured while trying to rescue him.
Drugs also being smuggled along waterways
Statistics on cases filed by the River Police include not only drug-related offences but also the transportation of weapons and stolen goods. Mohammad Rezaul Karim, chief of the River Police, said the force would work in coordination with district and metropolitan police to identify the sources of drugs entering the country through river routes and determine how they are being transported.
Rezaul Karim said criminals were being arrested with narcotics during operations along river routes. A database has been compiled using information obtained from those arrested. Individuals involved in various crimes, including snatching and robbery, are also being identified and brought to justice.
Chandpur Records the Highest Number of Cases Over Two Years
Region-wise statistics from the River Police show that Chandpur recorded the highest number of cases in both 2024 and 2025. The region reported 850 cases in 2024, rising to 2,017 the following year. Barishal ranked second in terms of the number of cases in both years, with the figure increasing from 448 to 611.
Among the other regions, the number of cases filed in 2024 was 182 in Chattogram, 120 in Dhaka, 113 in Faridpur, 106 in Narayanganj, 90 in Rajshahi, 58 in Sylhet, 49 in Kishoreganj, 35 in Tangail and 34 in Khulna.
In 2025, the number of cases stood at 147 in Faridpur, 128 in Dhaka, 121 in Rajshahi, 118 in Chattogram, 91 in Narayanganj, 66 in Tangail, 45 in Sylhet, 30 in Kishoreganj and 25 in Khulna.
In other words, alongside Chandpur and Barishal, the number of cases increased in Faridpur, Dhaka, Rajshahi and Tangail. In contrast, the number declined in Narayanganj, Chattogram, Kishoreganj, Khulna and Sylhet.
During the first nine months of this year, the Dhaka region recorded the highest number of cases—86—in five categories: murder, robbery, kidnapping, piracy and unnatural deaths. Narayanganj followed with 82 cases. Barishal and Rajshahi each recorded 70 cases, followed by Faridpur with 57, Tangail with 32, Khulna with 30, Chattogram and Kishoreganj with 25 each, Chandpur with 22, and Sylhet with six cases. However, these figures cannot be directly compared with the total number of cases across all categories recorded in the previous two years.
Alamgir Hossain, superintendent of police for the Narayanganj region, told Prothom Alo that people are being murdered and their bodies dumped in the region’s rivers under the cover of darkness. Bodies dumped in other rivers also drift downstream into rivers in Narayanganj. According to him, other types of crime are not particularly prevalent in the rivers in this area.
Challenges of monitoring vast waterways
According to data from the River Police Headquarters, the country’s navigable waterways extend for 7,500 kilometres during the monsoon season. In the dry season, this length decreases to 4,500 kilometres. Of this, vessels regularly navigate approximately 3,500 kilometres of waterways. Ensuring security across this vast expanse of water presents a major challenge for the River Police.
The chief of the River Police said the force has 124 outposts in areas adjoining the country’s rivers. Personnel stationed at these outposts patrol the waterways and gather information about criminals. Operations based on this intelligence have yielded positive results.
However, Muhammad Umar Faruk, a professor in the Department of Criminology and Police Science at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University in Tangail, believes that many crimes go unreported and are therefore not reflected in official statistics. He told Prothom Alo that crime along river routes is on the rise and that the actual number of incidents is higher than the figures suggest.
According to the criminologist, the River Police’s role should extend beyond patrolling waterways; surveillance and oversight must also be strengthened to control crime. To achieve this, the force needs to be strengthened by addressing shortages of personnel, equipment and training.
Crime-prone locations must be identified, and coordinated operations should be conducted there in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies to bring criminal gangs to justice. Through such measures, crime along river routes can gradually be reduced.