A group of local residents carried out a coordinated attack on a settlement of the Hijra community in Adamdighi Upazila of Bogura, vandalising and setting fire to homes after raising allegations of drug dealing. The incident took place at around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, 22 October, at the Hijra settlement beside the Bogura–Naogaon highway in the Dohorpur area of Adamdighi Sadar Union. Ten homes of Hijra community members were vandalised or damaged by fire in the attack. The sudden attack caused fear and a sense of insecurity among Hijra community members living in the settlement.
Several members of the Hijra community had lived on government land in the Dohorpur area for a long time. Recently, a section of local residents expressed anger at them, alleging drug dealing. It is alleged that the day before the incident, an eviction of the settlement was announced by loudspeaker in the area. The next morning, a group of people gathered there and attacked the homes of the Hijra community. As well as vandalising the houses, they set fire to several of them. Furniture and other belongings in the homes were also damaged in the attack. Some local residents claim that several people in the settlement had long been involved in drug dealing, and that they had complained to law enforcement agencies but received no effective remedy. However, no information has been found showing that the drug dealing allegations against those concerned have been proven.
Members of the Hijra community, for their part, have denied the drug dealing allegations made against them. They allege that some local people had long held hostile attitudes towards them because of their Hijra identity, and that the attack on the settlement was part of that hostility. As their homes were damaged in the attack, they have expressed concern about their housing and personal safety. Adamdighi Police Station became aware of the matter after the incident. According to Officer-in-Charge Jamirul Islam, police went to the scene and took steps to bring the situation under control. However, no detailed information has been found about cases against those involved in the attack, arrests, assessment of the damage, or rehabilitation of the affected people.
The Bogura incident has brought to the fore both the local residents’ drug dealing allegations and the Hijra community’s allegation of an identity-based attack. Even where a person faces an allegation of crime, there is no scope to take the law into one’s own hands and vandalise or set fire to homes. In particular, as Hijra community members allege that they were targeted because of their identity, an impartial investigation into the real motive of the attack, the eviction announcement made before the incident, the role of the attackers, and the safety of the affected people has become important. The incident has renewed concern about safe housing for the Hijra community in Bangladesh, social discrimination, and the risk of organised violence.
References
- Daily Inqilab — Report on mob arson and vandalism in a settlement in Adamdighi over drug allegations, 23 October 2026.
Read the Daily Inqilab report - Bangla Edition — Report on allegations of vandalism and arson at the homes of 5–7 alleged drug dealers in the Hijra settlement in Adamdighi, 22 October 2026.
Read the Bangla Edition report - Rupali Bangladesh — Report on residents setting fire to a Hijra settlement in Adamdighi over allegations against a drug dealer, 22 October 2026.
Read the Rupali Bangladesh report - Daily Bogura Mail — Report on a mob attack, vandalism and arson at a settlement in the Hijra neighbourhood in Adamdighi over drug allegations, 22 October 2026.
Read the Daily Bogura Mail report - Daily Joypur Barta — Report on vandalism and arson at homes in the Hijra settlement in Adamdighi, 22 October 2026.
Read the Daily Joypur Barta report - Rupali Bangladesh — Report on residents’ arson at the Hijra settlement in Adamdighi, 23 October 2026.
Read the Rupali Bangladesh report - Star News — House Vandalized and Set on Fire in Bogura Over Allegations of Drug Dealing, 22 October 2026.
Read the Star News report - Tritiya Matra — Report on vandalism and arson at homes in the Hijra settlement in Bogura over drug dealing allegations, 23 October 2026.
Read the Tritiya Matra report - Daily Swadesh Bichitra — Report on vandalism and arson at homes in the Hijra settlement in Bogura over drug dealing allegations, 23 October 2026.
Read the Daily Swadesh Bichitra report
