A 2025 survey revealed that 63.29 percent of BRTA service recipients had to pay bribes. This is compounded by powerful syndicates and “token systems,” where unfit vehicles ply the roads under the very nose of the administration in exchange for fixed extortion.

Four-year-old Ibrahim Islam was walking to his school in Kushtia town with his grandmother around 8:00am on Sunday. Perhaps his mind was buzzing with excitement, thinking about the games he would play with his friends.