POBNEWS24, Dhaka, July 10, 2026 : Deaths in prison custody in Bangladesh have given rise to various discussions and questions in a span of a few days. A significant number of the victims of these incidents have political identities; they were involved in the politics of the banned Awami League.
After the political change of 5 August 2024, numerous former Awami League ministers, members of parliament, local public representatives and grassroots leaders and activists were arrested in various cases across Bangladesh. Since then, concerns have been growing in Bangladesh about the deaths of people detained in prisons and state custody.
The Awami League claims that countless leaders and activists have died in prison or custody since 5 August 2024. However, there is no officially published and independently verified comprehensive list of this number.
A detainee died on 24 June in the Chittagong Central Jail. His name is Nurul Alam. He was the joint convener of the Satkania Upazila branch of the banned Jubo League. The prison authorities said that he fell ill in the Chittagong Central Jail that morning. Later, when he was taken to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital, the doctors declared him dead. Nurul Alam was arrested by the police on June 23. The police arrested him in a case under the Explosives Act filed at the Satkania Police Station in Chittagong in 2024.
Nurul Alam’s brother Nur Mohammad told the media that they have a dispute with some local leaders of BNP-Jamaat over land in the area. There was a hearing regarding that land at the Satkania Land Office. His brother went to attend the hearing. From there, the detective police arrested him and handed him over to the Satkania Police Station. Nur Mohammad said, “There was no case against my brother. He was framed in a land dispute.”
The question arises, if the case was filed in 2024, why did he have to be arrested after almost two years in 2026? His family’s complaint is that a land grabber gang had him systematically killed using DBK.
Another issue is the death of a prisoner in prison custody or in prison. The dire situation in Bangladesh’s prisons can be seen from the number of deaths of prisoners. According to the Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), 52 people have died in prison custody across the country till May this year. That is, more than 10 prisoners have died every month.
On January 21, at around 3:15 pm, a banned Awami League leader named Rashed Khan Menon (42) died while trying to escape during a police raid at Khan’s house in West Kaunia, Barisal city. His eldest son Imtiaz Khan told the media that 9 to 10 policemen from Kaunia police station came to their house to arrest his father. Sensing the presence of the police, his father tried to escape by climbing over the back wall of the house. After climbing over the wall and falling on a drain slab on the other side, he fell ill there. Later, relatives went to see his head burst and blood was pouring out.
Imtiaz said, “My father was a heart patient. A few months ago, a ring was inserted in his heart valve. He was at home after August 5. To my knowledge, there was no case against him.
A close relative of Rashed Khan, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the relatives did not allow the autopsy of the body, fearing that the police harassment would increase if the matter was fought out in a legal battle.
Deaths in the custody of law enforcement agencies and in prisons are a very consistent phenomenon in Bangladesh. A recently published report by human rights organization Odhikar recorded 486 deaths in custody between June 22, 2001 and June 22, 2026. It is noteworthy that these deaths have occurred under all governments from 2001 to the present.
According to that report, 184 deaths in custody occurred during the tenure of the BNP-led four-party coalition government from October 10, 2001 to October 28, 2006. Then, there was a short-lived caretaker government from October 29, 2006 to January 10, 2007, during which 6 deaths were recorded. Then, from January 11, 2007 to January 5, 2009, there were 42 custodial deaths.
The highest number of custodial deaths occurred during the 15 and a half years of the Awami League government from January 6, 2009 to June 2024; 213 deaths occurred during this period. During the tenure of the interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus, i.e. from August 9, 2024 to February 17, 2026, there were 29 custodial deaths. During the tenure of the current BNP government, there were two custodial deaths from February 18 to June this year.
According to the Prisons Department, 290 prisoners died in 2023, 261 in 2024 and 270 in 2025. The latest death in prison custody was on July 9, 2026, when Moniruzzaman Monir, the joint convener of the Jubo League in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, died.
Just as the incidents of deaths in the custody of law enforcement agencies are alarming, various news and data on deaths in prison have raised several uncomfortable questions. Examples of some such news are: ‘4 AL leaders died in prison custody in Bogra in 1 month,’ ’18 Awami League leaders died in prison in 12 months from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025. A total of 6 Awami League leaders have died in prison custody in 38 days from January to February 7 of this year alone. (The list of ‘political deaths’ in prison custody is getting longer, humanitarian questions are increasing, 39 people have died in prison custody in the first three months of 2026. Of them, 12 are leaders and activists of the Awami League and its affiliated organizations, and the remaining 27 are general prisoners.
It is clearly evident from these news, information and data that a significant portion of those who have suffered deaths in the custody of law enforcement agencies and in prisons in the last two years are Awami League leaders and activists.
