Standalone Cyber Police Unit and New Labs to Fight Cybercrime: 4,592 Members, Over 100 Arrests in a Year
The government has taken major steps to increase the police's technical capability and skills to combat cybercrime. The initiatives include setting up digital forensic labs and cyber labs, specialised training and forming a standalone cyber police unit. Alongside this, training programmes across the country are being strengthened to build skilled manpower for investigating cybercrime cases.
The need has arisen from reality itself. Cybercrime is increasing family conflict, mental breakdown and loss of social dignity. Many people suffer mental stress, fear and depression after falling victim to online harassment, threats and fraud. Fake IDs are opened to spread false information, photos and videos, damaging a person's social dignity. Individuals, families and society are all being harmed.
The picture of financial loss is also large. Fraudsters are taking people's money through online and mobile banking and fake links. Personal photos, videos, passwords and important information are stolen and used for fraud.
As traps for fraud, people are lured with part-time work from home or earning money by “liking” YouTube videos. Ordinary housewives, students and unemployed youths are targeted through messages on social media and WhatsApp. At first, a bonus of one or two thousand taka wins their trust. Later, in the name of completing various “tasks,” they are made to invest lakhs of taka, and the account concerned is shut down. One survey found that ordinary customers lost hundreds of crores of taka to this kind of financial fraud in just the past year.
Md Rezaul Karim Sohag, assistant professor and chairman of the Department of Criminology at Dhaka University, said: “In parallel with the triumph of technology, cybercrime is rising across the country at a geometric rate. Ordinary and lower-middle-class people are being caught in this web of crime the most. Through OTP sharing, fake phone calls, deepfake video fraud, and traps of cryptocurrency and online gambling, thousands of people are losing their life's savings every day. Many are suffering mental problems, and some are even being driven towards death.”
Md Chhufi Ullah, Special Superintendent of Police (Media) of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said: “The cases that come to the CID relating to cyber fraud, hacking and online harassment are investigated with professionalism and sincerity, and necessary action is taken. Regular monitoring and patrol activities are carried out to suppress cybercrime.”
He added: “New modules are being added to the ongoing training programmes at the Cyber Training Centre, the Forensic Training Institute (FTI) and the Detective Training School (DTS) to train officers working in cybercrime investigation. Besides this, a nationwide ‘Training of Trainers’ (ToT) course has recently been launched at the initiative of Police Headquarters. CID officers are also taking part in it.”
According to the CID, from 1 September 2025 to 23 September 2026, a total of 191 cybercrime-related cases were filed, comprising 32 GR (General Register) and 159 CR (Criminal Register) cases. Besides this, 101 people were arrested on cybercrime allegations in one year.
The picture in the capital is no less worrying. According to Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) data, from 1 January this year until now, 88 cybercrime-related cases were filed in the Ramna division and 163 people were arrested. In the Lalbagh division 23 people were arrested in 22 cases, in Wari 24 in 12 cases, in Motijheel 49 in 33 cases, in Tejgaon 49 in 53 cases, in Mirpur 27 in 33 cases, in Gulshan 37 in 38 cases and in Uttara 34 in 26 cases.
Md Shafiqul Islam, Additional Police Commissioner and head of the DMP's Detective Branch (DB), said: “Cybercriminals are being brought under the law. Police are active in suppressing any crime. Police are working to eliminate crime from society and ensure the safety of people's lives and property.” Md Aktar Hossain, Deputy Police Commissioner of the DMP's Media and Public Relations Division, said the DMP's Detective Branch has a cyber lab to increase capability against cybercrime. Besides this, approval has been given to launch a forensic lab at the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit. Initiatives will also be taken to train the officers concerned quickly in investigating digital crime cases.
Police Headquarters said the government has taken initiatives to increase the number of digital forensic labs and cyber labs to raise the police's technical capability and skills against cybercrime. As part of this, digital forensic labs and cyber labs have been inaugurated this month in Chattogram alongside Dhaka.
The biggest structural step was taken on 1 October. On that day, a standalone “Cyber Police Unit” was formed in Dhaka. The unit has 4,592 police members and other staff. Centrally, the unit is run under the leadership of an Additional Inspector General of Police (Additional IGP). At the division, district and police station levels too, there are separate activities or desks for cybercrime investigation.
In the training sequence, a special 10-day “Training of Trainers” (ToT) course on investigating cybercrime cases was recently conducted at the Police Staff College in Mirpur. Through it, 332 police officers were trained in phases. They will later train investigators at the field level.
Experts warn that people must refrain from clicking unfamiliar links. PINs or OTPs must not be given to strangers. Caution must also be exercised in sharing personal photos and information on social media. In their view, lack of awareness in using technology, use of weak passwords, entering unfamiliar links and fake websites, and inadequate knowledge increase the risk of cybercrime. How much result the new unit, labs and trained manpower deliver in the field remains to be seen.
