Bangladesh Protests: Block Raids, Activist Detentions, and Internet Shutdown
Mihail
2026-07-26
Read time
2 minutes
On July 26, 2024, the crackdown on student protests in Bangladesh intensified. Law enforcement forces launched massive night raids across Dhaka's residential neighborhoods to detain young people. The government ramped up pressure on protesters, attempting to suppress public anger by force amid a complete nationwide internet blackout.
Massive Raids in Residential Areas
Security forces followed a systematic pattern: sealing off residential blocks, cutting off electricity and streetlights, and then initiating house-to-house searches. During these checks, officers inspected residents' mobile phones for any photos or videos related to the protests. If a targeted individual was not home, their family members were taken instead, often guided by local ruling party activists.
Eyewitnesses in the Shaheenbagh and Bashundhara areas reported helicopters hovering low over rooftops, sweeping the streets with searchlights. Security forces even opened warning fire at windows of residents attempting to film the raids. By late July, nationwide arrests exceeded 6,000 people, with the vast majority of those detained in the capital having no official political affiliation.
Detention of Coordinators from Hospital Beds
On the afternoon of July 26, plainclothes security personnel entered the Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital in Dhaka and detained three student movement leaders: Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, and Abu Baker Majumder. Law enforcement ignored protests from medical staff and relatives, threatening them with counter-terrorism accusations. Despite the patients' poor health, doctors were forced to sign discharge papers, and police later confirmed the activists were held in custody allegedly for their own safety.
Official Stance and Opposition Reaction
Telecommunications Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palok claimed that the government did not shut down the internet, blaming the outage on damaged submarine cables and fires at data centers. This explanation was widely ridiculed by the public. Meanwhile, ruling party general secretary Obaidul Quader blamed opposition forces for civilian deaths, prompting opposition leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to call for national unity to overthrow the current government.
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