An India-based website called Northeast News claimed in a report published on November 8 that preparations are underway to deploy a private militia of 9,000 members—dressed in police uniforms—under the initiative of Bangladesh’s interim government adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, to counter the Awami League’s announced “Dhaka Lockdown” program scheduled for November 13.

According to the report, this decision was made out of fear of potential violence centering on the Awami League’s announced protest program.

See the report here.

Many people have copied the Northeast News report and are sharing the same claim on Facebook.

See here and here.

However, verification by The Dissent shows that the report by Northeast News is false.

First, the Northeast News report relies entirely on anonymous sources and presents no evidence to support its claims. In the recent past, this dubious website has published numerous anonymous and baseless claims about Bangladesh, many of which have been debunked by fact-checkers.

See here and here.

Second, Northeast News has distorted and exaggerated a recent piece of real news.

The imaginary “private militia”

Recently, the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP), under the Ministry of Youth and Sports—where Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan serves as an adviser—issued a notice stating that a program has been initiated to provide basic training on self-defense techniques and firearms handling to 9,000 young men and women.

However, this training program has not yet begun.

According to the notice, the training will start on November 22, 2025, and will gradually provide self-defense training—including judo, karate, taekwondo, and shooting—to a total of 8,250 young men and 600 young women in 114 batches.

Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan stated that this is a pilot project aimed at training young people to strengthen national security.

Asif Mahmud said, “This is not any kind of force. No one will be given weapons after the training, nor will anyone be recruited anywhere. After the training, they will return to their regular workplaces. Their data will be kept so they can be contacted if any situation arises.”

In other words, while the government has planned a self-defense training program for young people, the training itself—and even the process of selecting participants—has not yet started.

The adviser also made it clear that after the training, participants will not be included in any militia force or provided with firearms.

Therefore, the claim made by Northeast News—that “under Asif Mahmud’s initiative, a private militia of 9,000 members will be deployed in Dhaka between November 10 and 13 to counter the Awami League’s program”—is false and fabricated.

A training program that has not even begun (and would take months to complete once it starts) and has no declaration of forming a force cannot logically be described as an “already formed militia.” This is a deliberate piece of fake news or disinformation.

Police drills in Dhaka

Meanwhile, two leading Bangladeshi news outlets—The Business Standard and bdnews24—reported that on Saturday, November 8, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) conducted large-scale drills simultaneously at 142 key points across the capital. Around 7,000 police officers took part in the exercise.

Police authorities said the drill was part of their routine operations. A smaller version of this drill was held earlier on August 5 this year. This was the second time such a large-scale exercise was conducted.

Deputy Commissioner of DMP’s Media and Public Relations Division, Muhammad Talebur Rahman, said, “This is our regular security drill; part of force mobilization that we routinely conduct.” When asked whether the drill was a preparation for any security threat, he replied, “No, there is no security threat. This is part of our regular safety exercise.”

It is noteworthy that on November 13, the International Crimes Tribunal is scheduled to deliver verdicts against Sheikh Hasina and key figures of the former Awami League government. To mark this occasion, the Awami League has announced several programs from November 10 to 13, including a nationwide lockdown on November 13.