Siam Parvez, The Voice, Dhaka–
Five men, including leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement, have been detained for allegedly extorting money from the home of Shammi Ahmed, a former Member of Parliament in Dhaka. Police say the suspects – who identified themselves as members of Anti-Discrimination Student Movement (ADSM) – demanded Tk 50 lakh (approximately $46,000) from the family of Shammi Ahmed, an Awami League leader and ex-MP, during a raid on her Gulshan residence. They initially left after forcibly taking Tk 10 lakh, then returned on July 26 to collect the remaining sum – at which point officers, tipped off by the family, caught all five red-handed.
Video footage of their crime has went viral in the social sites. The five arrested are: Ibrahim Hossain Munna, convener of the Dhaka Metropolitan Branch of the ADSM, members Md. Sakadaun Siam and Sadab, Jane Alam Apu, joint convener of the central committee of the Bangladesh Democratic Students’ Union, and member Abdur Razzak Bin Sulaiman.
Gulshan Police Station Officer-in-Charge Hafizur Rahman confirmed an extortion case is being filed. “Identifying themselves as leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, the five went to Shammi Ahmed’s residence and demanded Tk 50 lakh on July 17… They left after taking Tk 10 lakh. [On Saturday] they returned to collect the remaining Tk 40 lakh,” OC Rahman told local media. Police are now pursuing other suspects who fled the scene, he added.
Former Insider: “Their Roots Run Deep”
The arrests have drawn attention to a pattern of criminality attributed to ADSM activists since Bangladesh’s political upheaval last year. Umama Fatema, a former central coordinator-turned-critic of the movement, publicly criticized the group’s rampant abuses following the extortion news. In a viral Facebook post, Umama wrote that many are “pretending to be so shocked” by this incident, calling it “somewhat humorous.” “I must say, this is the first time they’ve been caught red-handed by the police. If you dig deep, you’ll see their roots run much deeper,” she added.
Umama, who left the ADSM in June, described how certain student leaders allegedly operated with impunity. She recounted that one of the arrestees, Riyad, had earlier behaved in an “audacious” manner toward her and others, and that she later learned he already faced complaints of “threats, assault, and extortion.” Such figures became ubiquitous in the movement’s ranks, she said, but any attempts to protest their misconduct were met with “pin-drop silence”. “Everyone corrupted the platform in whatever way they could,” Umama lamented, accusing the movement’s leadership of turning a blind eye to wrongdoing.
In response to the scandal, the ADSM’s current leaders have expelled several members involved in the extortion. A statement from the group said three Dhaka chapter leaders were permanently removed for “violating organizational discipline,” and it urged law enforcement to take action. The movement’s president, Rifat Rashid, insisted they maintain “zero tolerance” for such crimes, even as critics argue the problem is far more systemic.
Army-Backed Regime and Student Vigilantism
The Anti-Discrimination Students Movement rose to prominence as a driving force in the student-led uprising that toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. After weeks of violent protests and clashes, Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus – the figurehead favored by the protesters – was sworn in as Chief Adviser of a military-backed interim government on 8 August 2024. “Student leaders had said they wanted Yunus as the chief adviser… and [he] agreed,” Reuters reported at the time. Yunus, 84, met with student coordinators and army chiefs before taking charge, cementing an alliance between the new regime and the youth activists who propelled it.
Since the Awami League government’s ouster, widespread human rights violations have been reported, many allegedly involving these very student activists. In the immediate aftermath of Hasina’s fall, vigilante mobs unleashed revenge attacks against those deemed loyal to the former ruling party. Rights organizations say “mob killings in Bangladesh surged after the August revolution,” with at least 96 people lynched between August and December 2024, overwhelmingly targeting Awami League members. This marks a threefold increase in mob violence compared to prior years. “Lynchings and mob beatings reflect the growing intolerance and radicalism in society,” observed Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir of the Ain o Salish Kendra, which recorded 128 mob killing victims in 2024.
One gruesome example was the September 7 killing of Abdullah Al Masud, a student politician from Hasina’s party who was beaten to death by a mob. “I had just given birth, but I rushed to the morgue to see my husband,” his widow, Beauty Ara, told reporters, noting that Masud had already lost a leg in a previous attack. “We filed a police case, but there has been no progress so far,” she said, reflecting fears that perpetrators enjoy impunity. According to human rights monitors, security forces have also carried out extrajudicial executions under the interim government – at least 12 such killings in late 2024 – indicating that state repression continues alongside mob violence. “We cannot say the human rights situation has improved,” remarked Noor Khan Liton, an adviser to the Human Rights Support Society, comparing ongoing abuses to past state atrocities.
International Alarm Over Abuses
Bangladesh’s post-uprising turmoil has raised international concern, with global bodies urging accountability from Yunus’s government and its supporters. Amnesty International warned of a “revenge culture of attacking political opponents” and called for an end to mob violence and vigilante justice. “Incidents of mob violence, disinformation and the failure of the state to protect minorities… have continued to destroy the lives of minority communities,” said Amnesty’s South Asia director in an August 2024 statement, after reports emerged of attacks on Hindu, Ahmadiyya, and other minority groups. In one such incident, arsonists torched 17 homes of a Christian Tripura community on Christmas Eve, drawing condemnation from Yunus’s own office, which deemed the attack “deplorable and unacceptable” . Despite official assurances to protect “people of all religions”, watchdog groups note that anti-minority violence and persecution of Hindus have escalated under the interim regime.
Leading human rights organizations have also criticized the crackdown on dissent since the new government took power. In May 2025, Human Rights Watch accused Dr. Yunus’s interim administration of “attempting to suppress the rights of supporters” of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, instead of upholding its pledge to restore democracy. The interim authorities imposed a sweeping ban on the Awami League’s activities – including all meetings, publications and online speech related to the party – under a draconian anti-terror law. Hundreds of opposition activists, as well as journalists and academics, have been arbitrarily arrested on what HRW calls politically motivated charges, often simply for being affiliated with the Awami League.
In a joint letter, a coalition of international rights groups urged the United Nations to monitor ongoing abuses, citing “hundreds [of people] killed or injured” in reprisal attacks on perceived Awami League supporters after Hasina’s resignation (omct.org). They warned of “severe risks of further grave human rights abuses” with communities still divided and law enforcement weakened in parts of the country. The UN and Western governments have pressed the interim leadership to rein in its supporters and ensure the rule of law.
Meanwhile, concerns are mounting about the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement itself, which has gained significant influence under the Yunus administration. The student coalition was a key beneficiary of the Awami League’s downfall – for instance, it successfully lobbied for a government ban on Hasina’s student wing, the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), which was officially outlawed in October 2024. ADSM activists have openly celebrated the ban and vowed to “identify and bring to justice” all remaining BCL “operatives” nationwide. However, the latest extortion scandal and numerous reports of ADSM-linked mob assaults are prompting observers to question whether the anti-discrimination campaigners have themselves become perpetrators of lawlessness. As one Dhaka resident quipped on social media, “they toppled a dictator only to terrorize us in the streets – who will hold these student vigilantes accountable?”
