A week before Eid-ul-Azha, the Bangladesh Army arrested nine people in Dhaka on allegations of extortion around a sacrificial animal market and of charging passengers extra bus fares for the Eid journey. The drives took place on 30 and 31 May 2025 at Kamarpara in Uttara and at the Abdullahpur bus stand. The army announced the arrests on its verified Facebook page on Sunday, 1 June, Jagonews24 reported that day.
The army said that in the situation the country faced at the time it was carrying out its duties with professionalism and neutrality to ensure public safety, keep law and order under control and prevent unlawful activities.
Five held at Kamarpara over a cattle market
According to the army, soldiers were on a regular patrol at 10:30pm on 30 May in the Kamarpara area next to Sector 10 of Uttara. Five people were arrested there. They were accused of setting up an illegal market, forcing cattle traders to sell their animals at one particular market, and extortion.
Uttara is a neighbourhood of Dhaka on the road to Gazipur, next to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
Alleged extra fares at the Abdullahpur bus stand
The next day, 31 May, the army ran a drive at the Abdullahpur bus stand in the capital from 4pm to 6:30pm. Four people were arrested there on allegations of charging passengers more than the bus fare.
The army said all nine people held in the two drives were handed over to the police after the necessary questioning, and that such drives would continue to maintain law and order and keep the public safe.
Eid markets and the army's magistracy powers
The National Moon Sighting Committee announced on 28 May 2025 that the Zilhaj moon had been sighted and that Eid-ul-Azha would be celebrated in Bangladesh on 7 June. Muslims mark the festival on the 10th of Zilhaj in the Hijri calendar.
The Daily Star reported on 17 May 2025 that 19 makeshift cattle markets were planned in Dhaka for Eid, 10 under Dhaka North City Corporation and nine under Dhaka South City Corporation. The city corporations invited open tenders for five-day leases, and no unauthorised market was to be allowed outside the designated sites.
In September 2024 the government gave commissioned army officers executive magistracy powers for 60 days, letting them act, including making arrests, under specified sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure. A gazette notification issued on 8 May 2025 extended the powers for another 60 days from 14 May; The Daily Star described it as the fifth consecutive extension.
Photo: Wasiul Bahar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Sources: Jagonews24, The Daily Star, Wikipedia
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