For the seventh time in a decade, a devastating fire ripped through Korail—Dhaka’s largest slum built illegally on prime government land—destroying over 1,500 shanties on Tuesday evening.
Residents, local leaders, and even former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina openly accuse powerful land-grab mafias, musclemen backed by politicians, and drug syndicates of deliberately setting these fires to terrorise and extort the poor, clear the land, and eventually hand it over to real estate tycoons and “project sharks.”
Korail is not just a slum; it is a goldmine. Located between Banani, Gulshan, and Mohakhali, the land is owned by multiple state agencies (PWD, RAJUK, and the Ministry of Telecommunications). Yet for years it has been controlled block-by-block by rival gangs who collect monthly “protection rent” ranging from Tk3,000 to Tk12,000 per room.
Drug peddling—especially yaba and heroin—is rampant and openly operated under the patronage of these groups. Every major fire in the past ten years has conveniently shifted “control” of certain blocks from one gang to another, residents say.
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Sheikh Hasina, in her explosive audio message released Wednesday, directly accused the Yunus regime of masterminding Tuesday’s blaze:
“They have been carrying out fire-terrorism everywhere, and now they have set fire to the slums… Why did they burn Korail today? Because apparently a big project is coming there… That is why they are kicking the poor in the stomach… Not a single person could take out any of their belongings. Empty-handed, with nothing, they barely managed to save their lives. How many people burned to death—that news has still not been released. This fire was completely orchestrated through conspiracy.”
She contrasted this brutality with her own government’s policy: “Every slum I cleared till now, I gave every resident alternative accommodation… I had already given flats on rent to 300 Korail families at the same rate they were paying in the slum, and the rest were in process… Today, without any notice, they have thrown thousands onto the streets in this biting winter. There is no humanity at all.”
Tuesday’s fire broke out at 5:22pm and engulfed more than 1,500 homes within minutes. Fire Service officials admitted their vehicles could not enter the narrow lanes and had to drag hoses from the distant lake. By the time the blaze was contained (with 21 units), almost everything was ash.
This is the grim record of Korail in the last decade:
- – December 4, 2016 – 500 shanties gutted
- – January 2017 – another major fire
- – March 16, 2017 – over 1,000 homes destroyed
- – March 2018 – 500 homes
- – March 24, 2024 – massive damage
- – December 18, 2024 – another huge fire
- – November 15, 2025 – 1,500+ homes (latest)
Every single time, the same excuses are repeated: illegal gas cylinders, tangled electric wires, and narrow alleys. Every single time a committee is formed. Every single time, the report is buried.
Residents are blunt, one saying: “These fires are never accidents. When one gang wants to snatch a block from another, or when some politician or builder needs the land vacated fast, the slum is set on fire at night or in the evening. After the ashes cool, new ‘owners’ move in and start collecting rent again.”
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A labourer named Shamim told reporters: “We pay rent, we pay electricity bill collectors, we pay the musclemen—yet when fire comes, nobody saves us. After every fire, the same people come back stronger.”
Just two weeks ago, BASIS president Russell T. Ahmed publicly stated that Korail land was earmarked for a hi-tech park, and the “non-political government” now has the perfect chance to evict the slum-dwellers. After Tuesday’s fire, that statement went viral again—forcing the Chief Adviser’s office to hurriedly deny any ongoing project.
Meanwhile, drug trade continues unabated in the surviving sections of Korail. Residents say yaba and heroin are sold openly because the dealers are the same people who “protect” different blocks and allegedly have links with certain political quarters.
Sheikh Hasina concluded her message with a chilling warning: “This fascist, murderous jihadi Yunus regime will keep burning the homes of the poor until the land is cleared for their cronies. This is how they are kicking the poor in the stomach to feed the greedy.”
As thousands huddle in the open on a freezing November night, Korail once again exposes the ugly nexus of land mafias, drug lords, musclemen, and their political godfathers—a nexus that has turned prime government land into a battlefield where the poorest pay with their lives and livelihoods.
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