Sheikh Hasina regime spent millions on spy tech for surveillance, crowd control; Israel among top suppliers
The Awami League regime spent at least $40 million on intrusive technologies originating in Israel
When the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime removed the "except Israel" clause from Bangladeshi passports in 2021, it surprised many. Even her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's first president, went as far as officially rejecting Israel's recognition of Bangladesh that came just after the latter's victory in the Liberation War.
Bite-Sized: Who sells surveillance and spyware to Bangladesh
Bangladesh also never established diplomatic relations with Israel, and the clause in the passport, "This Passport Is Valid For All Countries Of The World Except Israel," has been in place since the birth of the country, and yet, it was removed without providing any explanation.
Latest revelations indicate that multi-million dollar secret trade deals with Israeli surveillance tech entities might have paved the foundation for the change of government's stance on Israel.
Starting in 2015, the Hasina regime purchased $190 million worth of surveillance and spyware meant for crowd control and suppression of opposition. Purchase of Israeli-origin equipment, worth $43 million, sits among the top, only to be surpassed by the US.
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A report by the Tech Global Institute, published on 11 August, has revealed these details. Tech Global Institute is a non-profit organisation that conducts in-depth research and policy engagements in the information technology sector.
The investigation confirmed that the regime increasingly used cyber surveillance to target political opposition, journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens, particularly during electoral cycles and mass protests.
"Purchases rose sharply before or just after national elections in 2018 and 2024, indicating these technologies were likely used to suppress political and civic opposition, and maintain regime continuity," reads the Tech Global report, titled 'The Digital Police State: Surveillance, Secrecy and State Power in Bangladesh'.
The buyers
Various law enforcement and intelligence agencies of Bangladesh, including the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Bangladesh Police, National Security Intelligence (NSI), and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence DGFI were the recipients of the technologies.
NTMC alone accounted for more than $100 million of the $190 million purchase between 2018 and 2024 — a staggering 58% of national investment in digital monitoring capabilities.
NTMC focused on intercepting internet traffic, enhancing its deep packet inspection (DPI) and decryption platforms, and spyware to filter content and extract data.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Police and the RAB deployed mobile and Wi-Fi interceptors and signal jamming devices — tools primarily used to monitor and disrupt protests. DGFI concentrated on cell network monitoring, tapping and jamming.
According to the Tech Global report, in 2015, DGFI purchased FinFisher, a computer spyware used for installing malware on a target's device to gain access to their data and even take control of it.
With a view to monitoring and controlling digital communications, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division invested heavily on surveillance technologies meant for social media, messaging and web content interception and analysis, the report revealed.
NTMC's investment also focused on enhancing its capabilities regarding remote eavesdropping and data extraction at the app and device level.
The report mentions that in 2022, Bangladesh made its largest single-year procurement of surveillance and spyware, totaling nearly $88.3 million.
"That year, Major General Ziaul Ahsan assumed leadership of NTMC," the report says. Ziaul is currently in jail while being tried for corruption and other charges.
The sellers
At least 20 countries have exported cyber surveillance technologies to Bangladesh between 2015 and 2025.
Despite the Awami League regime's poor human rights records — marked by extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances — companies based in top human rights defender nations such as France, Germany, the US, Canada, and the UK, among others, supplied these spyware to conduct surveillance on Bangladeshi citizens, especially those fighting for democracy and human rights in the country.
Since Bangladesh has no diplomatic and trade relations with Israel, Israeli-origin technologies, such as Cellebrite UFED and spyware from NSO Group and Intellexa, were routed through Cyprus, Singapore, and Hungary to circumvent formal trade restrictions, revealed the report.
Other Israeli firms such as Passitora, Prelysis and Cognyte have also reportedly sold spyware and surveillance technologies to the former regime in Bangladesh through intermediary countries like Cyprus and Singapore.
"These companies are part of a broader network of cyber intelligence exporters that have supplied spyware to dozens of authoritarian regimes worldwide, contributing to the global expansion of invasive digital surveillance tools often used to suppress dissent, monitor civil society, and undermine press freedom," the report says.
The AL regime spent at least $40 million on technologies originating in Israel, placing the country second in the top suppliers' list.
The AL regime's purchase of spy tech from Israeli firms first surfaced in "All the Prime Minister's Men," a 2021 documentary on a corruption racket consisting of people close to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The US tops the list of sellers, providing a whopping $55 million worth of surveillance technology. US firm Yaana Technologies alone supplied such technology to Bangladesh for approximately $51.7 million.
Other suppliers of the tech include companies from a wide range of European and even Asian countries, namely Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, Czech Republic, China, Australia, Belgium and Malaysia.
"At least nine known commercial spyware vendors have sold their technologies to Bangladesh, including sanctioned firms and/or their owners like those at NSO Group, Intellexa Consortium and Cytrox.
"Others include British-German Gamma Group, Israeli conglomerate Verint Systems and its subsidiaries Cognyte and UTX Technologies, as well as Cellebrite and Coralco Tech," reads the report.
The report revealed that Turkish spyware firm, Bilgi Teknoloji Tasarım (BTT), used deceptive tactics to evade export restrictions to sell surveillance tools like IMSI-catchers to Bangladesh.
Purchases rose before elections
The AL government spent at least $20 million over a 12–18 month period before the national elections of 2018 and 2024, indicating that the technology was used to suppress opposition parties partaking in the elections and undermining the democratic system.
Before the 2018 election, most spending focused on geolocation trackers and related software.
In early 2022, more than half of the spending went to purchasing spyware and data extraction technologies. In 2024, signal jamming apparently got priority.
"Procurement records and training logs for law enforcement and intelligence officers between 2022 and 2024 show a strong focus on extracting social media, messaging, and web content, particularly Messenger, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Viber.
"Multiple purchases targeted equipment and software designed to break end-to-end encryption or deploy malware to remotely access devices, enabling direct retrieval of app-based communications," the report reads.
Technologies procured
At least 160 different surveillance tools and spyware systems have been imported into or deployed across Bangladesh through murky procurement channels. These span technologies like IMSI catchers, GPS trackers, drone systems, facial-recognition technologies, and deep packet inspection (DPI) tools — often used without legal oversight or warrants.
"The equipment included surveillance devices like laser microphones, and spyware such as Pegasus, Predator, WiSpear, and FinFisher, AI-powered video surveillance systems with facial recognition, mobile and Wi-Fi interceptors like IMSI catchers, and software capable of full device access.
"Other tools include geolocation trackers, forensic extraction devices like Cellebrite UFED, deep packet inspection systems for monitoring internet traffic, and jamming devices have been used to disrupt wireless communications," the report reads.
'A dirty job'
Claiming that the violation of public privacy is a "dirty job," Baharul Alam, IGP of Bangladesh Police, told TBS that the force does not use such devices to record the personal conversations of prominent figures.
"We have no interest in knowing the conversation between Tarique Rahman and Mirza Fakhrul, unlike the previous regime. In fact, the interim government never asked about it," he said.
He added, "We seek help from the NTMC to identify criminals involved in activities such as forgery and sexual exploitation via social media."
