THE attack on a police officer in Narsingdi on October 4 is a stark reminder of how deeply the culture of extortion has been entrenched. Extortionists and their accomplices assaulted an additional superintendent of police in daylight shortly after he had detained two individuals caught extorting money from drivers in the Arshinagar crossing. That a law enforcement officer could be beaten and the detained snatched away by a group of extortionists lays bare the scale and brazenness of the criminal enterprise. The assault on the police is not an isolated incident but symptomatic of a broader failure to curb extortion, which appears to have grown recently. The interim government that assumed office in August 2024 promised to establish the rule of law and dismantle the entrenched corruption and rent-seeking. Yet, more than a year later, incidents show that little has changed. The finance adviser on September 30 admitted that extortion had increased since the fall of the previous regime. He also acknowledged that curbing extortion without firm political commitment and political government is impossible and noted that new political actors had joined older groups in profiteering through coercion.
The admission corroborates recent findings of Transparency International, Bangladesh that show that extortion, corruption and partisan influence have persisted unabated under the interim administration. Political groups continue to seize control of transport terminals and businesses, with an estimated Tk 2.21 crore extorted daily from 53 terminals in Dhaka alone. The shift in power has merely replaced one dominant political faction with others, without dismantling the underlying structures of political control and corruption. Unabated extortion, meanwhile, continues to have tangible economic consequences. It directly adds to the cost of transport and goods, contributing to spiralling prices. Extortion on roads and at markets, combined with manipulation by business syndicates, drives, as studies show, prices up by 20–50 per cent. As a result, food inflation has stubbornly remained above or around 10 per cent, eroding people’s purchasing power and disproportionately hurting low- and middle-income households. Political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have issued warnings to their activists against being engaged in extortion and expelled a number of activists. Yet, the pronouncements remain largely performative and ineffectual in ending the extortion culture. Organisational discipline has been weak and expulsion from parties has not curtailed their activities.
The interim government must, therefore, recognise that extortion is not merely a law and order problem but a systemic governance failure. The law enforcement agencies need unequivocal political backing to act decisively and political parties must rein in their activists to demonstrate commitment to ending the culture of extortion. Without deterrent measures, the extortion culture will continue to thrive, undermining public confidence and economic stability.
