From snooping devices carried in backpacks to locate people through their phones to a massive infrastructure that can intercept even end-to-end encryption from a central command centre, the Awami League government had been on an increasingly aggressive trajectory towards building a powerful surveillance state. 

Police arms records show the brutal truth behind the July killings; the force bought 7 times more lethal weapons than non-lethal ones in 2021-23

It was 6:14pm on Friday, July 19, 2024. Two Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel were advancing into Banasree G Block in Dhaka.

Months-long investigation by The Daily Star indicates state forces increased deployment of lethal weapons after the ousted PM authorised their use

Confluence of Dhaleshwari and Shitalakkhya under siege from Shah Cement

The Daily Star found evidence of systematic government efforts to cover up medical records and bodies of the July uprising victims so they can never be found again.

The city’s booming real estate has also been used by Bangladeshis as an offshore haven to park wealth for a big reason

Export proceeds worth at least $3.45 million (Tk 34.41 crore) were not repatriated by six customers of NRB Commercial Bank’s Uttara branch, and the bank concealed the trail of the capital flight, according to the bank’s internal audit and case documents.

During the 40th board meeting of NRBC Bank on February 7, 2016, current Chairman Tamal Parvez and Director Adnan Imam entered the boardroom accompanied by a man carrying a large gun. Both Tamal and Adnan were board directors back then.

Many Bangladeshi sex workers, once victims themselves, now serve as brothel managers, perpetuating the vicious cycle. They employ fellow countrywomen, who later become traffickers responsible for bringing new girls from Bangladesh into the clutches of these brothels.

After rescuing trafficking victims, the Indian police do not take them to shelter centre; they file cases under criminal laws.

Adjacent to the border in Narail district’s Maheshpur upazila, a hidden racket facilitating the illegal crossing of people thrives, operated by individuals known locally as “Dhurs” or carriers.

Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed has at least 260 properties in the United Kingdom for which he has paid at least GBP 134.76 million or Tk 1,888 crore, according to The Daily Star’s calculation from company filings publicly available on UK government websites.

On April 9, Mukul Soren, a Santal farmer in Rajshahi, drank pesticide in a suicide attempt over not getting irrigation water from the same deep tubewell that allegedly led to the suicide of two farmers, also Santals, last year.

No official record of a single taka taken out of country, yet he and his wife obtain citizenship of Cyprus through investment, go on property-buying spree in Singapore

It was a cloudy afternoon on October 2 at Shahpur border in Cumilla.

Four years ago, some plainclothesmen picked up Mohon Mia from his Mirpur house. He has never returned home again. His father Jamsher Ali, a trader, has long insisted he has proof that Rab-4 members took his elder son away without giving any reason.

It was a long, dark plot. A chilling conspiracy was getting final touches in an eerie August of 2004, a month that brings to mind the memories of a past bloodbath. The plot for a high-profile assassination was awaiting approval, again.

Right opposite the Gabtoli bus terminal, there is a blue building squeezed between bus counters -- a hotel as seedy as it gets. A narrow flight of stairs takes customers up to the bare-bones rooms.

It began with two things -- good intentions and a plan flawed to the core.