Cyber Crime Dynamics in Bangladesh
v4.0
1. Hacking, Cybercrimes, and Bangladesh Police
In 2021, I found myself facing a six-month restriction (30 days each) on Facebook due to the rampant cybercrime activities prevalent in Bangladesh. During this period, numerous individuals openly advocated for the Taliban, promoting heinous acts such as the murder of homosexuals, violence against women, and the execution of apostates.
As a Bangladeshi author with 26 published books under my belt, I hold a sacred duty to express my views without censorship. In response to the escalating atrocities committed by the Taliban, I intensified my writings against their regime's oppression. Additionally, through my organization, “Positive Comments Society”, we diligently reported extremist content on Facebook to combat radical ideologies in Bangladesh.
If Facebook were to look into the events of 2021, it would undoubtedly uncover a plethora of comments and posts supportive of extremists, many of which were subsequently removed by the platform. Our involvement in these incidents was notable. Due to our vigilant approach, instead of using “Taliban” as a flagword, Bangladeshi militants began employing ‘chatrabhai (our brothers, students)’, as “Taliban” translates to “chatra” or “student” in Bengali. During this time, certain pro-militant cybercriminals became aware of my presence as my actions against Taliban-ideology in Bangladeshi cyberspace was widely appreciated in the liberal community in Bangladesh. They launched a coordinated attack on my Facebook timeline, resulting in several violations and restrictions placed on my account. Among them, a cybercriminal by the name of Behzad Mesri claimed responsibility, repeatedly commenting on my posts using certain keywords, while maintaining anonymity. Upon informing the relevant police officers, they advised me to file a complaint with the cybercrime division, prompting me to submit a detailed report on the Bangladesh Police's cybercrime page.
However, throughout 2021, little action was taken, and Behzad Mesri persisted in his actions, continuously taking responsibility for restricting the pages and profiles of human rights activists. Despite my reports and protests, the situation escalated when members of their hacker group began issuing threats against me. They were soon joined by another group of cybercriminals known as Maxtan, collectively working to restrict my online identity. Their tactics extended to the destruction of my website, kpimon.com, through fake copyright claims aimed at silencing my opposition to the Taliban's extremist ideology. Once again, Behzad Mesri claimed responsibility through a banner ‘Elegant Cyber Security’, stating, "KPimon.com was destroyed for insulting Islam."
Although these cybercriminals operate under different banners, they are united in one aspect: their support for militant behavior. Interestingly, when individuals dare to speak out against militancy, they're promptly labeled as 'insulting Islam'.
Despite my efforts to involve law enforcement agencies, they were unresponsive to my case. This lack of action left me frustrated, especially considering my efforts to combat cybercrime in Bangladesh. Despite feeling neglected, a compassionate police officer eventually reached out to me and directed me to a specific officer who could address my case effectively. This officer reassured me that measures were being taken to protect me from further harassment by cybercriminals.
Following this intervention, the attempts to put new restrictions on my Facebook profile (fake copyright violations and other violations) by Behzad Mesri's callsign were lifted for a significant period. I presumed this meant that the police had finally taken action and arrested these cybercriminals. However, my recent realization shattered this illusion, as I recognized that I had been living in a fool's paradise for far too long.
I was deeply concerned when I learned that blogger and human rights activist Asad Noor's page had been hacked. What surprised me even more was the claim of responsibility made by Behzad Mesri and Fatin Bagdhade. In response to my 2021 incidents, I promptly submitted a detailed report to the Cybercrime division, directly contacting at least two officers. This report included critical information about Behzad Mesri, such as his current ID link and the phone numbers from which fake DMCA reports were sent, along with associated addresses. Given that mobile phone numbers in Bangladesh are biometrically registered, tracing their owners should be relatively straightforward for any police department. The numbers listed are: +8801728893254, +8801975584697, +8801621757467, and +8801444901979. Additionally, I provided two full addresses, although they may no longer be relevant after all these years.
From 2021 to 2024, I have been actively tracking these hackers and cybercriminals. I firmly believe that with just two competent individuals from the police force, I could have single-handedly arrested and brought these criminals to justice. However, the assistance I anticipated from the Bangladesh Police never materialized.
Rather, a story unfolded that can beat thriller novels any day.
2. Fool’s Paradise
There's no denying that fear looms large in Bangladesh today, especially when it comes to two sensitive topics: government and religion. I believe that to gauge the true essence of democracy in a country, one must pay heed to two critical factors.
Firstly, it's essential to observe whether people can openly criticize the government. For instance, in America, when I socialize with friends from Texas and someone remarks, "I fucking hate Biden, bro," there's no immediate repercussion. Thousands of Americans openly criticize President Biden on his Facebook page without facing police intervention or legal consequences. Even if cases of defamation or contempt are brought against them, they're not pursued. This indicates the presence of a democratic ethos. Even if cops make any arrest based on misunderstanding,, the court will dismiss the charges. While there are laws against threats, defamation, or incitement to violence in Texas or the United States, none of them equate to criticizing figures like "Bangabandhu <blip> <blip>." Such expressions are not considered threats or defamation, and they do not incite violence. Simply calling someone 'Khankir Pola' (son of a whore) doesn't qualify for defamation, and people aren't jailed for such remarks.
However, in Bangladesh, there have been instances where individuals criticizing Bangabandhu have been imprisoned. Recently, Khadijatul Kobra, a student of Jagannath University, was detained for 15 months on charges of 'insulting Bangabandhu.' Upon release, the state should have compensated her with money and empathy for the time spent unjustly in jail. However, no such compensation was provided. The government did not even recognized that it was UTTERLY wrong to send her to prison, yet. Let alone any compensation.
Secondly, it's crucial to assess whether individuals can criticize the predominant religion of the region openly. Similar to the freedom of speech in America, I comprehend its essence here when people publicly utter statements like "Fuck the mother of Jesus, bro," without facing legal repercussions. However, the consequences are vastly different for someone in Bangladesh who dares to criticize religious figures like Muhammad, as evidenced by the severe consequences faced by those who utter words like "Muhammad had sex with slave-girls" from religious texts.
When I was younger, I used to believe that criminals commit crimes. The police do their best to stop or apprehend them, but sometimes, like everyone else, they fail. While investigating Asad Noor's case, I came to realize that I've been living in a delusion for quite some time. I’ve been living in a fool’s paradise, to be precise. The hackers and cyber criminals involved in these cybercrimes are actually associates of senior police officers, who have collaborated for a considerable period.
Asad Noor's page has been hacked. Two hackers named ‘Fatin Bagdhade’ and ‘Behzad Mesri’ have claimed responsibility. We have learned that a police officer in Bangladesh has personal contact with these two individuals. One of the police officers pictured happily dining and working together with these cybercriminals on Facebook is named Mr. Rajib Farhan, holding the rank of an SP. A few hours before I was writing this piece, these two cyber criminals went live using the hacked page of Asad Noor and claimed responsibility.
In any country worldwide, we typically report such incidents to the police, expecting them to intervene. However, what we observe on public Facebook posts is quite different. Some individuals are publicly expressing gratitude to the hackers for resolving their Facebook-related problems. Additionally, they are tagging a police superintendent (SP), suggesting a collaboration between this police officer and the hackers. This raises concerns about the reliability of seeking assistance from the authorities in Bangladesh. It appears that these hackers wield significant influence within the Bangladesh Police Cyber Crime divisions.
We are unaware of the details of any involvements regarding this police officer (I beg to the relevant departments to open an investigation, it is quite concerning), but these hackers seem to believe that insulting Islam or Prophet Mohammad will lead to their arrest by the police, and they perceive hacking pages and profiles as legal. While we talked about Asad Noor’s hacking incidents, some of those cybercriminals came to my comment box and wrote, “We did not do any crime. This guy said insulting thing to our prophet. We have proof of that.” They added screenshots of Asad’s remarks on some of the Islamic laws and according to their belief, Bangladeshi constitution allows people to hack if someone doesn’t agree with a religious view. (Surprisingly, with a few corrupt, Islamist cops, corrupt, Islamist judges, they have been using our constitution as such, making it a joke!)
The international image of Bangladesh is getting worse everyday. A few hours ago, Asad Noor's ID is hacked, right? Asad Noor's ID being publicly hacked is a clear instance of cybercrime. Everyone will agree on that. However, it appears that the police and courts in Bangladesh share the same thought as in “it is not illegal to hack an atheist’s page,” just like those Taliban patronizing criminals, which is really concerning!
Let's consider an example: In 2023, a man was sentenced to seven years in prison for the "crime" of insulting the Prophet of Islam. Similarly, last year, a woman was released after spending two years and seven months in jail. Her release was considered special consideration due to her having “no other crime” and having a child. Nowhere in the laws of Bangladesh does it explicitly state that “criticizing religious leaders or prophets is prohibited”, We have a vague saying of ‘hurting religious freedom’, which can mean everything, and nothing. What is evident is that our constitution clearly says discrimination based on religion or gender is not allowed in this country. Our police and judicial systems are violating that part of the constitution for sure.
Atheists in Bangladesh face arrest and imprisonment for expressing criticism of religion, with some police, judges, and government officials disregarding the country's secular constitution. Despite potential repercussions, I am committed to speaking out against this discrimination to uphold the freedom of 160 million people. Asad Noor's arrest by corrupt police and sentencing by biased judges exemplifies the flawed interpretation of the law, which essentially forbids criticism of religion, undermining the rights of atheists and restricting freedom of expression.
The constitution is not designed to punish dissenters; rather, laws should prevent crime and discrimination. Criticism, even if offensive, should not lead to imprisonment if it does not incite violence or discrimination. Those inciting violence against other religions are the true offenders of religious sentiments, and sometimes they go free. Justice should be applied impartially, but corruption exists within the police force and judiciary, leading to unjust rulings. It is not an insult to label corrupt judges as such; rather, it is holding them accountable for their actions under the law.
In Bangladesh, enforcing laws against criticizing Islam is like punishing atheists for smoking in public while ignoring Muslims doing the same. Just as atheists face charges while Muslims evade arrest, atheists expressing views on Facebook criticizing Islam are targeted by corrupt police and judges, while hackers openly attack atheist pages without repercussions.
It is our duty to expose this issue transparently to the world. Let the Awami League government decide whether they will allow such injustices to persist. Are these judges, police officers, and hackers important to them? Regardless of whether I have Facebook or not (as they will come back at me fiercely now, try to take down my account with a few more fake violations reports), I have sufficient reason and evidence to take action on this matter.
If the current government want to make Bangladesh an Islamic Republic of Bangladesh, declare! The last I checked, it's still People's Republic of Bangladesh.
SOME BACKGROUND
In Bangladeshi culture, reporting someone for "hurting religious sentiments" is commonplace and often supported by the legal system, resulting in imprisonment for offenders, particularly targeting non-believers and minorities. The Digital Security Act further exacerbates this issue by criminalizing the dissemination of information that offends religious values, disproportionately impacting non-Muslims and denying bail to detainees with increased penalties of up to 10 years in prison. Despite this, there have been no arrests for offending Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, or other non-believers, which shows clear discrimination.
It's a great example of the negative impact these laws have on Bangladeshi children, who may develop a sense of entitlement to report others, leading to unjust arrests and devastating consequences. This contradicts the constitutional principle of fairness and highlights systemic advantages for the majority, undermining the rights of minority groups.
3. Losing our faith
Not talking about the faith in God, but rather the faith in men. Some men, actually. The police.
I mentioned Asad Noor's page being taken over by hackers but didn't get to discuss how they assumed responsibility for their actions. Well, the hackers came to live and said, "We hacked Asad Noor's page."
It was as simple as that.
Usually, that is completely okay, right? Because these hackers, like any other hackers, are using a name that’s fake. But -
Two out of three in this live are personally known to police officer Rajib Farhan, that we can confirm from their Facebook activity. This, THIS, made this whole story a hundred-fold interesting!
I found actress Puja Saha’s post where she said that, due to the tireless efforts of three people, the monetization of her page is back. Her wonderful promotion promoted the below three—
1. Ibna Mamun Pranto
2. Behzad Mesri
3. Fatin Baghdade
This post is pinned by Ibna Mamun. While I'm not familiar with him, I can attest that Behzad Meshri and Fatin Baghdadi are both assholes. They have a history of disabling, restricting, and hacking the profiles of atheists for many years. They were also reported for hacking accounts and then later retrieve(!) them for money, which is a polite version of ransomware, I guess. Merely expressing atheistic views is enough to provoke them, prompting them and their team to take down your account. They justify their actions by proclaiming, "This is a country of Muslims," as if that excuses their behavior.
Both Behzad and Fatin took credit for hacking Asad Noor's Facebook account recently, adding to their long history of involvement in various cybercrimes. In 2021 or 2022, I submitted a detailed report to the Bangladesh Police Cybercrime unit about Behzad's previous ID and his criminal activities. So far, I thought this is the lack of our cyber crime department’s competency but, today I learned that I had been living in a fool's paradise.
The last person mentioned in Puja Saha's promotional post is Rajib Farhan, an SP of Bangladesh Police. This raises questions about whether Bangladesh's top two cybercriminals are able to operate because of this guy's open and direct supervision and influence. Considering the report from 2020, everyone in the Bangladesh Police Cybercrime Division should be aware of Behzad's activities. If they were aware, they should have either arrested him or not maintained such close ties with him, right?
Rajib Farhan boasts 100,000 followers on Facebook, but a closer look at his profile reveals that he likely purchased these followers based on a mere 500 views and 30 likes on each of his posts. In one particular video, he outlines certain precautions to protect oneself from cybercriminals. Ironically, every precaution he mentions aligns perfectly with the actions of Behzad, the individual with whom Rajib Farhan seemingly shares a relationship. Today's events serve as a prime example of playing the role of the White Knight.
He was also spotted having dinner with other hackers and spammers. He either ran or fueled an organization called “Cyber Helpline Bangladesh Team”. This organization basically settles people's accounts with money. What issues? Primarily the problems people encounter after a hacker targeted them. it made me feel like those pharmaceutical companies that actually created a virus could sell their antivirus.
The public activities of the "Cyber Helpline Bangladesh Team" may appear legitimate, serving as a cover. However, there are five to seven different Facebook pages managed by the same individuals and hackers, dedicated solely to cybercrime. These pages often claim to advocate for saving Islam, but in reality, by ‘saving Islam’ they mean supporting extremist ideologies such as those of the Taliban and ISIS. Their actions include hacking, disabling, and restricting the accounts of atheists and non-believers in Bangladesh. Through methods that also include sending fake copyright claims, uploading violating contents after hacking, disabling accounts, and blackmailing individuals, they have eventually managed to create an extremely hostile cyberspace for non-believers in Bangladesh.
These so called cyber security specialists (my foot!) are cybercriminals. By principle, I won’t negotiate or talk to the criminals, but I definitely want to ask this police SP guy with fake followers a few things. I want to know what Mr. Farhan is doing with these cybercriminals.
I am a Bangladeshi who has been investigating these issues for several years. So far from what I know in the last three years, it is more than enough to suspect he is not only supporting them but also giving them useful resources. We received an allegation against Mr. Farhan that he has handed over government cyber security tools to these cyber criminals.
It is still fairly clear how these hackers could abuse so many high-ranking officials with such courage. When another SP was vocal against these hacking and cyber criminal acts, they targeted his Facebook account and tried to hack it, including sending fake copyright claims to turn his account down. How did they get the courage to attack a high-ranking police officer unless somebody very powerful is backing them? More powerful than an SP, maybe. So far, these are all allegations, but if you have so many public posts and pictures, this is an allegation worth looking at.
I am not only talking about internal investigations, this evidence must go to the proper authorities, who can do a much deeper investigation both internally and externally and take action. We must not forget that these hackers are the same cyber criminals who had a countrywide campaign to hack, spam, and restrict accounts and websites and who talked and reported against Taliban’s h’s human rights violations.
If one of our own is involved in promoting Taliban propaganda, it raises concerns about the potential involvement of many others. We demand a comprehensive investigation, spanning from 2021 to the present day. It's crucial to ensure the safety of our cyberspace by identifying cybercriminals within our own police departments. I urge the relevant departments to conduct thorough investigations into this matter, both internally and externally. It's essential to root out any individuals who may be undermining our efforts to combat cybercrime and uphold cybersecurity standards.
4. Threats
As a crime novelist, I've been subjected to significant scrutiny since 2016 for various reasons. It all began when I wrote the first historical fiction based on the sensitive disappearance of writer and filmmaker Zahir Raihan during the 1971 independence war in Bangladesh. This work promptly earned me my first death threat. Since then, I've faced numerous such threats, stemming from my written works, including books and social media posts. Over time, I've grown accustomed to this unfortunate reality, no longer being concerned unless the threat originates from an organized terrorist group like Ansar al-Islam or IS.
While pursuing my Mechanical Engineering BS degree in Bangladesh, I also wrote ten thrilling crime fiction novels, which found a strong following among Bangladeshi thriller enthusiasts. Balancing engineering coursework with writing lengthy 500-page crime novels came naturally to me. I owe this knack to my upbringing; my mother taught me how to read at an early age, and I used to read non-fiction and fiction alike while I was only 3 years old. I started writing when I was 6 (mostly garbage at that age), but that transformed me into a writing machine while I was admitted to RUET, my undergrad engineering university). Anyway, eventually Abhijan Publications in India recognized my talent and began publishing my works across the border. To date, I have authored a total of 26 books under the pen-name Kishor Pasha Imon, distributed in both Bangladesh and India, and have amassed a substantial following on social media platforms. I also worked as a remote medical scribe for Dr. Jeff Davies at St. John’s Hospital, CA, for more than a year, which helped me understand the cultural differences, before coming to the US. As an author, I've always felt a deep sense of responsibility to shed light on prevailing injustices and human rights violations, particularly addressing issues of discrimination and violence based on race, religious beliefs, or political affiliations.
During the Asad Noor incident, I received countless death threats from individuals in Bangladesh. One threat in particular stands out, where an individual, according to their Facebook profile, stated, "I visit your profile every day to remember your face. So, one day when I come to America, I'll recognize you immediately and kill you." I've saved screenshots of the threats I received and included them in ADDENDUM-I for clarity. I couldn't capture all of them because there were too many, and most didn't make sense when auto-translated to English using Facebook's translation feature.
They started with my Facebook and then switched to my Goodreads profile, the Amazon book links they could find and destroy (they claimed at least one Amazon post to take down, ADDENDUM-I Incidence 6,7). They also moved to my family. My ￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭￭ has a public presence. They sent me threats to take ￭￭￭￭￭ profiles down and hack into ￭￭￭￭￭ Snapchat as well. (Incidence 10, ADDENDUM-I) Getting threats to kill my family is so common I stopped taking SS of those a long time ago.
4.1 When I First Felt the Hate
In 2020, following the heinous murder of a French teacher, extremist Muslims took to the streets to protest President Macron's stance against religiously motivated violence, sparking a “boycott France” movement [20]. Expressing my solidarity with Macron's condemnation of such crimes, I found myself targeted by fundamentalists who added my name to their hit list. An assassination attempt was made on my life at my residence in Dhaka, on October 29–30, 2020, but was swiftly thwarted by the Counter Terrorism Unit of the Police, later rebranded as the ATU. At the time, I was employed by the American organization "Augmedix," and enjoyed widespread recognition nationwide for my popular crime novels, which likely prompted government intervention to prevent a critical situation. My understanding is, it would definitely look bad if an established author-engineer-and US employee loses his head on the streets, so the government of Bangladesh showed their sincerity to save my ass. However, others who voiced support for Macron were not as fortunate; Islamists vandalized Hindu homes after a Hindu individual praised President Macron on Facebook for his strong stance against extremism.
The police provided limited information to me regarding the situation, but Wahiduzzaman Noor, an officer of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and my direct contact at the time, informed me that there was a list of new assassination targets. This list not only included me but also encompassed several other writers, human rights activists, and ex-Muslims. For verification purposes, the police here in Texas can reach out to Mr. Noor, who is currently pursuing studies at the School of Foreign Service - Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
Since 2019, I have encountered two assassination attempts, faced complaints to the authority accusing me of hurting Muslim religious sentiments, and endured bullying from various communities. However, it's essential to note that everything I posted on my social media platforms was always addressing specific issues that nobody had the guts to speak against (because of the blasphemy act and government-terrorist retaliation alike) while living in Bangladesh. A few of them caught more heat than usual:
Contrary to what some members of my Bangladeshi community claim, I don't typically discuss my religious beliefs on my social media platforms. I often address the disturbing content I encounter on my social media feed and make a point to speak out against those who support criminal acts or incite others to do so. It's astonishing how prevalent such attitudes are, with some individuals believing they're justified, like advocating for the decapitation of women. Sometimes, religiously motivated comments flood social media platforms. I'm not referring to just a few isolated opinions. On one occasion, a prominent newspaper in our country reported the death of musician Lata Mangeshkar on February 6, 2022, and there were 500 comments celebrating her death, filled with phrases like "alhamdulillah" and "bitch will burn in hell, oh yeah." It's profoundly disturbing.
I consistently address religiously-motivated crimes that promote hatred towards atheists, women, the LGBTQ community, or the posts in which people tried to normalize terrorist activities. I firmly believe everyone has the right to express their religious views as long as they do not promote criminal acts. Personally, I identify as an engineer and a crime novelist, and I refrain from actively promoting my religious beliefs. My focus lies in shedding light on crimes as crimes if I see somebody is normalizing them in the name of politics or religion. It is my way of giving back positive values that counteract the spread of hate, violence, and cruelty in society.
I can't recall a single instance where I discussed religion unless it was pertinent to a specific event. Over the years, I've addressed a range of crimes and discrimination, not all of which were religiously motivated. These include issues like the conduct of general elections in Bangladesh, the arbitrary arrest and disappearance of opposition party members by plainclothes police, the targeting of writers and activists critical of the government, the detention of college students who criticized national figures, resulting in lengthy incarcerations, extrajudicial killings, and the atrocities committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Unfortunately, there have been individuals who have attempted to label me as an Islamophobe, alleging that I consistently speak out against Islam
It wasn't until I came to the US for my higher studies in 2021 that I felt a sense of safety. Here, I realized that nobody would file a complaint against me simply because they disagreed with something I wrote. Finally, I felt like I had the freedom of expression that I longed for. Completing my MS at Texas State University allowed me to fully enjoy this newfound freedom. That changed in the next 3 months.[1]
Skipping 4.2 (the harassment events at UTD)
ADDENDUM – I
This is the document I sent to Facebook during one of my chats with Meta Support.
A1. The group responsible
There is a group that took responsibility for an atheist human rights activists page hack. Asad Noor lost his page; they even changed the handle to https://www.facebook.com/Asadbainchod (still verified)
Ever since I showed support to him, the same group has been spamming and threatening me that they will send fake copyright to disable my ID. I complained about this twice to Support, however, because their comments were in Bangla, my SS didn't have much impact. This time, I am adding the comments that they recently posted, which I kept as Facebook translations. The translation is not very accurate, however, this can still serve as some proof.
Some of them claimed they were working to remove my posts right now and it’s working. (They were able to remove one last night, maybe they are sending tons of reports like that.) You’ll find it in the screenshots.
A2. Taking credits for hacking Asad Noor’s page
Post link: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/5APK2rj6BwexHkhk/?mibextid=oFDknk
(Addendums will be posted as a different post as this reaches the word limit for Substack posts.)
[1] However, I have not been spared from enduring cyber-attacks, especially since they realized they could not physically harm me anymore. Especially in 2020, 2022, and 2024, I faced more than 50 attacks each year, targeting my websites and Facebook profile. One of my Facebook profiles was taken down, and my domain kpimon.com was initially removed from Bluehost, followed by kpwrites.link being taken down from Hostinger due to fake DMCA notices. These attackers employ deceptive tactics, such as copying and pasting my content onto their websites dating back several years, and then falsely claiming ownership of the content. Terrorist cyber cells frequently use such false reports, which can lead to the loss of your website.