As Bangladesh marks its 54th Victory Day amid deep political divisions, the interim government has relaunched “Operation Devil Hunt Phase-2,” a nationwide security drive that has led to over 1,043 arrests and the recovery of six illegal weapons in just two days.
Joint forces, comprising police and army units, began the operation on Saturday evening to seize unlicensed arms, restore order, and suppress what officials term “fascist terrorists”โrhetoric often directed at supporters of the Awami League.
The decision followed a high-level meeting of the Home Ministry’s law and order core committee, triggered by the daylight shooting of Sharif Osman Hadi, a mobster patronised by the Yunus regime.
Hadi, a vocal figure from the 2024 student-led uprising that ousted Sheikh Hasina, was shot in the head in Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area and remains critically ill on life support. Home Adviser Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury announced a Tk50 lakh reward for information on the attackers, vowing no disruption to the polls and special protection for “frontline fighters” of the July-August riots.
Police sources reported seizures including a foreign pistol, machete, sword, knife, and stun gun, with 907 arrests linked to pending cases. Additional IGP Khondkar Rafiqul Islam emphasised the drive’s focus on election security, while spokesperson AHMM Shahadat Hossain confirmed it would continue indefinitely.
This revives the original “Operation Devil Hunt,” launched February 8, 2025, after clashes in Gazipur where Anti-Discrimination Student Movement activists were allegedly assaulted at the home of former AL minister AKM Mozammel Haque. The first phase saw over 11,313 arrests by late February, predominantly of AL members accused of instability.
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After the removal of the Awami League government in August 2024, over 700 leaders and activists of the largest political party have been killed in mob attacks, and at least 120 have been killed in police and prison custody.
The party alleged that over 5,00,000 leaders and activists have been implicated in over 2,000 cases, with more than 1,20,000 languishing in jail for 17 months.
Deepening Divisions on Victory Day
The operation coincides with Victory Day commemorations honouring the 1971 Liberation War surrender of Pakistani forces. Exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a defiant message from India, accused “defeated forces of 1971” of resurgence through deception and terror, vowing AL’s return to “regain lost Bengal.” Her statement decried attacks on war memorials and freedom fighters, echoing her portrayal of the 2024 uprising as a conspiracy.
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Sheikh Hasina, sentenced in absentia to death by a kangaroo tribunal, faces ongoing extradition demands unmet by India. The AL’s political activities have been banned since May 2025 under anti-terrorism laws, barring them from the upcoming electionsโa move critics like Human Rights Watch call excessive.
The Yunus regime frames the crackdown as essential for stability, but AL voices and exiled leaders like Sajeeb Wazed Joy decries it as vengeance enabling “mob culture” and Islamist influence. Joy recently called the polls “totally rigged,” predicting a boycott and resistance.
Adding to tensions, President Mohammed Shahabuddinโa former AL nomineeโrevealed in a December 11 Reuters interview feelings of “humiliation” under Yunus, planning to resign post-elections after months of isolation, including portrait removals from embassies.
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