People of Dhaka are worried about security during Eid shopping, there is no peace in their minds

POBNEWS24, Dhaka Mar 19, 2025 : After a busy day, they return home for evening Iftar. After that, they go to the market with their family members. They visit various markets to choose Eid clothes for the whole family. After finishing their shopping, they return home almost at midnight. This is the familiar scene of the middle-class and upper-middle-class people of the capital Dhaka every year around Eid-ul-Fitr. However, this time the picture has changed. The residents of the capital are shopping while there is still daylight. The number of customers in shopping malls starts to decrease after evening. Most of the shopping malls are almost empty in the early part of the night. Buyers and sellers say that due to security concerns, buyers are completing their shopping during the day. Due to the political change, there is also a decline in sales. Everyone is afraid of who will come and attack and steal everything. Recently, there have been one after another robberies in Dhaka city. In most cases, these incidents happen at night. In this situation, the residents of the capital consider it risky to be outside after the evening. As a result, there has been a change in the timing of Eid shopping. Due to insecurity, they are avoiding shopping at night and finishing their shopping quickly during the day. One such person is Habib Jewel, an official of a private organization in Gulshan. He told this correspondent, “Earlier, I would go to the market with my family after finishing work and having Iftar. But now I am afraid to go to the market at night. I read about robberies in the newspapers every day. So this time I am finishing my shopping by afternoon.” Fatema Akhter, a resident of Dhanmondi, narrated the same experience. She brought her husband to the capital’s elite shopping mall, Bashundhara City Shopping Complex, at around 2:30 pm. Fatema said, “Everyone in the family usually likes to shop at night. Everyone is tired after fasting and shopping during the day. But this year, my husband left the office at noon and went shopping with us. I have never been so worried about security before.” There is no peace in my mind.
Meanwhile, the change in shopping schedule has also increased frustration among sellers. Md. Atiq, a Punjabi businessman from New Market, said, ‘Earlier, we used to do most of our business from evening to midnight. But now the market is emptying by 9 pm. As a result, sales have decreased a lot.’
Mehedi Hasan, manager of Bashundhara City’s Club House, said something similar. He said, ‘Our business is going pretty much as expected. We are almost able to meet our daily target. However, customers decrease after evening. The number of customers is highest after noon.’
The upper and upper middle class usually do Eid shopping in the country’s elite shopping malls. However, traders have claimed that the changing winds of the Awami League government’s fall on August 5 have also affected the Eid-ul-Fitr market of the malls. One such person is Md. Sharifuzzaman Rana, administration manager of showroom Desi Dash located in Bashundhara City. He runs a business under the same roof with 10 renowned fashion brands Nipun, K-Craft, Anjan’s, Rang Bangladesh, Banglar Mela, Sadakalo, Bibiana, Deshal, Nagardola and Srishti. He told Banik Barta, ‘Our sales have decreased by about 20-25 percent compared to the same period last year. Due to the unstable situation across the country, many people are not able to shop comfortably.’
He also sees the absence of a significant part of the elite in the country as a reason for the decline in sales.
Another businessman is Md. Ruknuzzaman of Pir Yemeni Market in Gulistan. In addition to retail sales, he also supplies clothes wholesale. Many wealthy people donate lungis and clothes as zakat during Ramadan. Ruknuzzaman also supplies those clothes. However, this time his sales have decreased by almost half, he said. Ruknuzzaman said, ‘I have stocked up on products for Ramadan and Eid. Even though Ramadan is half over, not even half of the products have been sold. The products that I brought for wholesale sale have now started selling in retail. If I can sell something before Eid, then maybe I can make some money.’
In this regard, Badal Mia, in-charge of the Police Auxiliary Force at Nurjahan Market, said, ‘This year, there are fewer buyers after evening compared to last year. However, it has been increasing slightly for the past two days. I hope it will increase further in the future.’
Muhammad Talebur Rahman, Deputy Police Commissioner of the Media and Public Relations Department of the DMP, told this correspondent, ‘Special security measures have been taken around the entire capital during Ramadan. In addition to plainclothes police members are working to curb crime, especially around shopping malls. In addition, members of the Police Auxiliary Force are performing their duties to control crime in shopping malls. In addition to increasing patrol activities, regular check posts are being conducted at strategically important places.’