Two Daily Star reports among GIJN’s top eight investigative stories from Bangladesh

The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) has published its editor’s pick for “Best Investigative Stories from Bangladesh in 2025”. The list features two reports from The Daily Star: “AL Govt’s Secret Surveillance State” and “A blatant river grab: Confluence of Dhaleshwari and Shitalakkhya under siege from Shah Cement”.

The first report was by The Daily Star’s senior staff correspondents Zyma Islam, Mohammad Suman and staff correspondent Mahmudul Hasan. The report unveiled how the police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and the National Telecommunications Monitoring Centre (NTMC) jointly purchased surveillance equipment worth Tk 1,382 crore to develop a nationwide interception platform. The article based its findings on import data and contract agreements, and investigated how over the years the NTMC developed a sweeping infrastructure called “Integrated Lawful Interception System (ILIS)” that could intercept, decrypt, inspect, and store enormous volumes of national internet and telecom traffic, enabling real-time, centralised surveillance across agencies. Following the report, the government drafted the Telecommunications (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 which dissolved the NTMC.

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A blatant river grab

The second report was by The Daily Star’s staff correspondent Sajjad Hossain, unveiling how a cement production complex by Shah Cement in Munshiganj occupied around 24 acres of land at the confluence of Dhaleshwari and Shitalakkhya in the Mukterpur area of Munshiganj. Following this, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) urged the authorities to immediately blacklist Shah Cement.

The list contains a total of eight reports published by Bangladeshi media in 2025.