Deaths in police and prison custody continue to raise serious concerns in Bangladesh, with human rights groups questioning the treatment of detainees and prison authorities themselves acknowledging severe deficiencies in healthcare services.
The crisis extends beyond allegations of custodial abuse. Prison officials say none of the country's 54 prisons has an ambulance, many prison doctors fail to remain on duty, and costly medical equipment has sat unused for years due to staff shortages.
According to the human rights organization Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), at least 61 people died in prison custody and four in police custody during the first six months of this year. In 2025, the organization recorded 116 deaths in prison custody and at least 11 in police custody.
Responding to concerns over custodial deaths, Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, additional commissioner of the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told Dhaka Tribune that no such incidents had occurred recently in Dhaka. He said Police Headquarters has been actively addressing the issue and that action is taken whenever police personnel are found guilty of misconduct.
AIG (Media and Public Relations) HM Shahadat Hossain of Police Headquarters said ensuring the safety and legal rights of everyone in police custody is the force's responsibility. He said existing laws, court directives and standard operating procedures (SOPs) are being strictly followed, while allegations of negligence or misconduct are investigated and legal action taken where appropriate.
Prison authorities acknowledge healthcare crisis
The Department of Prisons admits that inadequate healthcare remains one of the biggest challenges facing Bangladesh's prison system.
Officials said none of the country's 54 prisons has an ambulance. Prisoners requiring emergency treatment are transported to hospitals in pickup vans or locally known "Laguna" vehicles. Authorities acknowledged that some inmates die en route because oxygen support is unavailable and treatment is delayed.
Although each of Bangladesh's 75 prisons is supposed to have two full-time doctors, officials said many physicians neither report regularly nor remain on duty throughout the day, disrupting healthcare services and delaying treatment.
The department also revealed that modern diagnostic and treatment equipment purchased nearly a decade ago for the 200-bed Kashimpur Prison Hospital has never been used because of a lack of trained personnel.
Several recently released prisoners told Dhaka Tribune that proper medical care is virtually nonexistent inside prisons. They said doctors are rarely available and that delays caused by the lack of ambulances often prove fatal.
Former inmates also alleged they witnessed prisoners suffering from heart disease, chest pain and other serious illnesses die before reaching hospital. They further claimed negligence had led to miscarriages among female prisoners.
According to the Department of Prisons, 129 inmates died in prisons across Bangladesh during the past six months, including 74 who died before they could be transported to hospital.
(The Department of Prisons' figure includes all inmate deaths during the period, while ASK's statistics are based on its own monitoring of custodial deaths.)
Assistant Inspector General of Prisons (Development) Md Jannat-ul-Farhad told Dhaka Tribune that requests for ambulances for all 54 prisons had remained pending for years.
"Discussions have been held with the ministry, but there is still no certainty about when ambulances will be provided," he said.
Farhad said every prison is supposed to have two doctors providing round-the-clock medical care, but many physicians neither report regularly nor remain on duty throughout the day, leaving inmates without timely treatment.
He said the lack of ambulances forces prison authorities to transport critically ill inmates in unsuitable vehicles, with some dying before reaching hospital.
Farhad also said much of the expensive medical equipment has deteriorated after years of lying unused.
"We have a 200-bed prison hospital in Kashimpur equipped with all the necessary modern machines," he said. "However, those machines have remained unopened for almost 10 years. We have operating theatre equipment, X-ray machines and many advanced medical devices, but we cannot use them because we simply do not have the required manpower."
He added that an X-ray machine purchased for Chittagong Prison Hospital nearly a decade ago has also never been commissioned.
Recent custodial deaths
On July 30, Mizanur Rahman, 55, who had been arrested in connection with an attempted rape case involving a seven-year-old child in Faridganj, Chandpur, died after falling ill in police custody.
On June 24, Nurul Alam, a leader of the banned Jubo League, died in Chittagong prison custody. He had reportedly been arrested in good health just a day earlier.
Three days earlier, on June 21, Mirza Ishtiaq Ahmed Pranto, an activist of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League, died while in the custody of the Detective Branch in Faridpur. His family alleged he was beaten in front of his mother during his arrest and received his body the following day.
Another widely discussed incident occurred on January 31 last year, when Touhidul Islam, a Jubo Dal leader, died while in the custody of a joint security force in Cumilla. Images showing apparent signs of torture on his body later circulated on social media.
Families of victims have consistently alleged that their relatives were taken into custody in good health but later died after being tortured. Authorities have rejected such allegations in several cases, citing illness or other causes.
Human rights concerns
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune on Thursday, human rights activist Nur Khan Liton said law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh have long operated with a sense of impunity.
"Police often believe they are above the law and can do whatever they want. They have little regard for legal procedures."
Referring to the death of Mirza Ishtiaq Ahmed Pranto, Liton said video footage of the arrest appeared to show detectives striking him around the head and ears while several officers restrained him.
Liton alleged that Pranto sustained severe injuries during the arrest and claimed those injuries ultimately led to his death in police custody.
He also recalled an earlier incident at Khulna Sadar Police Station during the previous government's tenure in which a Chhatra Dal activist was allegedly suspended and beaten inside the station. After footage of the incident went viral, the officers involved were transferred elsewhere, he said.
Liton said the practice of temporarily suspending or transferring officers accused of abuse was itself a serious problem.
"Police officers involved in these crimes should be dismissed from the force and prosecuted under criminal law."
He added: "The death of a person in state custody should never be treated as an ordinary or natural death. Only exemplary punishment through due legal process can deter such crimes."
What the law says
Supreme Court senior lawyer Saeed Ahmed Raja told Dhaka Tribune that whenever a person dies in custody, authorities may conduct an inquest, a post-mortem examination and, where necessary, a judicial or magistrate-led investigation. Courts may also order an independent inquiry.
"If there are allegations of torture, a separate criminal case can be filed under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013," he said.
However, Raja noted that such cases face significant challenges.
"To date, there has been no successful conviction in Bangladesh under this law."
Asked about the obstacles, Raja said proving custodial torture generally requires physical evidence of injuries, medical reports, eyewitness testimony, information about the time and place of the alleged abuse, and evidence that any confession or statement was obtained through coercion.
"In most cases, victims or their families are unable to produce sufficient evidence. As a result, these cases rarely lead to convictions."
Raja also pointed to a broader due process concern.
"In many other countries, when someone is taken into police custody, officers first ask whether the detainee has a lawyer. In Bangladesh, however, it often takes considerable time before family members or lawyers can determine where a detainee is being held."
