For months, a mysterious group of Chinese nationals has been roaming the low-income neighborhoods, narrow alleys, and slums of Techpara in Uttara’s Sector 12, continuously recording video footage. Armed with iPhones equipped with cooling fans for hours of filming, they frequently trespass into private residences. Despite the obvious intrusion, neither local police nor area residents know who these individuals are, who employs them, or where the footage is ultimately published.

The unusual phenomenon resembles television journalists reporting live from the field, occurring right where Uttara’s upscale residential buildings give way to lower-income settlements. During a recent visit, several foreign nationals were seen speaking directly to their phone cameras in their native language, seemingly turning the densely packed neighborhood into their primary content focus.

When a reporter approached one vlogger who was resting nearby to ask about his well-being and nationality, the man simply replied, “Chinese.” After being welcomed to Bangladesh, he quickly stood up. Asked whether his content was for platforms like YouTube, Facebook, or TikTok, he immediately answered, “I have to go home,” before hurriedly jumping onto a rickshaw to flee the scene. This bizarre evasion left the reporter feeling akin to the protagonist in Lewis Carroll’s *Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland*.

Deeper into Techpara, at least five or six more Chinese vloggers were spotted filming. None were willing to engage, leaving locals to either watch in astonishment or actively ignore them. Raju Ahmed, who has resided in the area for nearly 15 years, noted the ongoing disruption.

“I have been here since childhood,” he noted. “I have been seeing them [Chinese vloggers] for around a year now. At one point, there was even tension in the area because of them. Local residents complained that they were entering houses without permission. Tenants of one house complained that they came into the kitchen area and even near the bathing space with their cameras.”

Ahmed recalled an incident where a vlogger was confronted for trespassing and claimed to have a “boss.” Another Chinese national quickly arrived to defuse the situation, boasting of his influence. “That person said he has a lot of money and connections in this country,” Raju claimed. “He said he can do whatever he wants.”

Expressing the community’s profound frustration, Ahmed added: “We still do not understand what their actual work is. They are seen here from morning until night — sometimes until 10 or 11pm. I have seen them in other parts of Uttara too, but their numbers are highest in Techpara.”

He further emphasized the severe privacy violations taking place: “If a house’s gate is open, they walk straight in. Many times, they show no respect for women’s privacy whatsoever,” he said.

Another long-term resident of 20 to 22 years, Mohammad Badal, confirmed that this filming has been a regular occurrence for the past year, particularly in slums and lower-income homes. “They record videos whenever they see boys or girls,” he said. “Often they even enter houses and take various kinds of footage. Once, there was even a fight in the area over this. Later, they came back in a group with the police.”

Monowara Begum, a veteran local, observed that Bangladeshi women frequently accompany the creators. “The girls who go around with them are paid between Tk500 and Tk1,000,” she said. “They walk with them all day and stand beside them while they record videos. They say they go live, but we do not really understand what they are filming.”

When reporters attempted to interview more vloggers, they were met with silence or evasion. One man offered only his name. “My name is Li Wei. I only work for my boss,” he stated. When asked where the videos are uploaded, he replied, “I do not have the videos,” and refused further comment. Another vlogger bolted inside a nearby home upon seeing the journalists; several of his colleagues sitting outside immediately followed suit, shutting the door behind them.

While TBS could not independently verify the exact destination of the Techpara videos, a search of Chinese streaming platforms like Youku and Bilibili reveals a concerning trend. Countless videos shot by Chinese vloggers in Bangladesh rely on an exploitative formula, invariably using words like “poor”, “dirty”, or “slum” in their titles. The creators often frame themselves as generous benefactors rescuing impoverished locals.

Beyond this framing, the videos showcase severe privacy breaches. Unaware subjects are frequently filmed bathing or managing private affairs, and creators are seen barging uninvited into homes, leaving residents visibly uncomfortable. One particularly alarming video showed a vlogger grabbing a Bangladeshi youth by the collar to “discipline” him, raising urgent questions about local exploitation for online clout.

This influx of content creators aligns with a broader surge of Chinese nationals in Bangladesh, driven by engineering, trade, factories, technology, and infrastructure projects. Thousands currently reside in Dhaka, Chattogram, Gazipur, and various industrial zones.

However, this growing expatriate presence has also been accompanied by a rise in criminal activity. Bangladeshi law enforcement has recently busted several rings involving Chinese nationals linked to cyber fraud, trafficking, gold smuggling, counterfeit electronics, illegal online gambling, and illegal telecommunications operations.

In May 2026, a prominent case in Uttara and Turag saw the Detective Branch arrest nine suspects, including six Chinese nationals, for operating online gambling and cyber fraud networks. Using Telegram groups, Facebook pages, YouTube channels, and fraudulent investment websites, the syndicate lured victims with promises of quick profits. Police seized digital transaction materials, foreign SIM cards, internet devices, laptops, and dozens of mobile phones, discovering that massive funds had been funneled abroad digitally.

Previously, in January 2026, authorities raided the Bashundhara Residential Area and Uttara, arresting three Bangladeshis and five Chinese nationals. They were accused of running fake job ads on Telegram and social media, alongside illegal VoIP operations and online fraud, resulting in the seizure of over 51,000 SIM cards.