A high-profile operation by the Special Response Battalion (SRB)—the specialized police unit that recently replaced the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)—has resulted in the arrest of Atiq, alias ‘Chora Atiq’, a key figure in the violent youth gang known as the ‘Bhoira-De’ group. The suspect was apprehended late on Tuesday night near the Mohammadiya Market in Pallabi, Dhaka.
The arrest follows a brazen midnight assault on 14 September, when four armed assailants riding two motorcycles stormed the Pallabi residence of Pranta Parvez, a reporter for Bangla TV. Searching frantically for the journalist, the gang members opened fire indiscriminately targetting Parvez before fleeing the scene. The attack was launched in direct retaliation for Parvez’s investigative reporting on the illicit activities, extortion schemes, and armed intimidation orchestrated by the ‘Bhoira-De’ network across Mirpur and Pallabi.
Acting on instructions from the gang’s ringleader, Ashik, the operatives attempted to silence the media presence that had been exposing their turf wars. For months, members of the gang have brandished illegal firearms to terrorise residents across Pallabi’s Sabuj Bangla, Bauniabadh, and Avenue-5 sectors. Atiq himself faces a string of prior charges, including mugging and extortion, across multiple police stations in the capital.
Shadow Investigations and Midnight Raids
Following the shooting, SRB-4 initiated a comprehensive shadow investigation utilising closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, digital forensics, and local intelligence. Investigators swiftly identified a 22-year-old operative named Robin. On 15 September, elite forces raided Robin’s residence in Pallabi’s Taltola slum, arresting his mother, Doli Begum, 45, and seizing 745 Yaba pills along with 15 grams of powdered Yaba worth an estimated 270,000 BDT. While Robin managed to slip away during the raid, intelligence gathered from the scene led directly to Atiq’s capture two days later.
Subsequent interrogations of Atiq pinpointed the hideouts of several co-conspirators—Robin, Ibrahim, Shahin (alias ‘Shooter Shahin’), and Al Amin—in Section-11 and Avenue-5. Although the suspects evaded capture as forces closed in, law enforcement retrieved a foreign-made pistol, nine live rounds of ammunition, and an empty magazine hidden behind a tin-shed structure in the area.
In a parallel crackdown, SRB officers also arrested Niloy Sujon, 31, an active member of a rival youth gang, recovering six mobile phones, two sharp machetes (ramda), and cannabis from his possession.
Recapture of Escaped Death-Row Convict
Adding to a series of successful tactical operations, SRB-4 separately tracked down and arrested Sohel Rana, 38, a death-row convict in a murder case who had escaped from Kashimpur High Security Central Jail. Sohel broke out of the facility on 6 August 2024 by attacking prison guards during widespread civil instability, remaining in hiding across various regional safehouses until his capture in Singair, Manikganj, on the evening of 15 September.
The Transition from RAB to SRB
These coordinated operations mark the first major law enforcement successes under the banner of the newly constituted Special Response Battalion. The government formally gazetted the Special Response Battalion (SRB) Act, 2026, officially dissolving the controversial Rapid Action Battalion and establishing the SRB as a specialised division under Bangladesh Police. Under the statutory transition, all existing RAB personnel, operational powers, assets, legal obligations, and records have been fully transferred to the newly formed entity.
