At least 187 people were killed and 401 injured in 398 incidents of mob violence across Bangladesh in the first nine months of this year, according to a report by the Human Rights Support Society.

The toll is more than two and a half times the 73 deaths the same report records from political clashes over the identical period — a comparison that places lynchings and crowd attacks, not party conflict, at the centre of the country’s violent-death count.

The report, signed by HRSS executive director Ijajul Islam, was compiled from reports in 16 national dailies and the organisation’s own investigations between January and September, The Daily Star reported. The attacks followed allegations of theft, robbery, mugging and rape, accusations of hurting religious sentiment, and attempts to establish local dominance.

Political violence: a lopsided ledger

The same report counts 1,013 incidents of political violence, leaving 73 dead and 6,473 injured. Of those incidents, 931 — 91% — involved infighting within the Bangladesh Nationalist Party or clashes between the BNP and rival parties. BNP infighting alone accounted for 342 incidents, 40 deaths and 2,632 injuries.

Who died and who was arrested do not line up. Of the 73 killed in political violence, 46 were BNP members, eight from Jamaat-e-Islami and six from the Awami League — leaving 13 deaths the report does not assign to a party. But of 5,644 people arrested, 4,827 belonged to the Awami League. More than 270 political cases named 5,809 individuals and a further 32,433 unnamed accused.

Custody, press and borders

The report also records 17 deaths in law-enforcement custody or in incidents involving torture, shootings and so-called “gunfights”, and 10 deaths during police chases. Another 95 inmates died in jail, among them 55 prisoners awaiting trial.

Under the Cyber Protection Ordinance 2025 and the Cyber Protection Act 2026, 113 people were sued and 55 arrested across 40 cases — including 12 detained over posts about Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and 24 over alleged religious offence. 518 journalists faced attacks or harassment in 288 incidents, with 297 injured and 20 arrested; 51 were sued in cyber cases. Police broke up 58 rallies, injuring 439 people.

Along the Indian border, 43 attacks by India’s Border Security Force killed 13 Bangladeshis. Landmines laid by the Arakan Army on the Myanmar border killed eight.

The report records abuse of 2,404 women and girls, including 657 rapes — 392 of them of minors — and 29 women murdered after rape. Domestic violence killed 457 women, and 494 children died across 1,810 recorded incidents of abuse. Fifty-six attacks on minorities damaged 21 temples and 47 homes, and 535 workers died in workplace incidents.

Notes on sourcing

Hiru News reported the headline findings in Sinhala on Thursday afternoon, crediting HRSS and The Daily Star. Its account describes the mob-violence toll as “more than double” the political-violence figure; the Dhaka original says more than two and a half times, which matches the arithmetic.

No other verified newsroom located by this desk had filed on the report at the time of writing. HRSS has not published a district-level breakdown, and neither filing reports a government response.