Police detained 252 people in a single night during an operation against teenage gangs in Cumilla. The drive was conducted from Thursday evening until Friday morning by police from all 18 police stations in the district, in coordination with the Detective Branch (DB). However, police did not provide a breakdown of how many people were detained from each police station.
Additional Superintendent of Police Lutfur Rahman, the district police’s media officer, confirmed the information to Prothom Alo on Friday morning.
According to police, the operation targeted locations in different police station areas of the district where teenage gangs were active. Members of various district police units and the DB took part, along with senior police officials.
Lutfur Rahman said the drive was conducted under the direction of Superintendent of Police Mohammad Anisuzzaman as part of ongoing operations against teenage gangs.
The authorities were verifying whether those detained were involved in criminal activities. Necessary legal action would be taken after the verification, he added.
The police official said regular drives were being conducted to prevent teenagers from becoming involved in crime. He added that the authorities were also monitoring the operations to ensure that no innocent person was harassed in the name of enforcement.
Earlier, on 23 September, an operation against teenage gangs was launched jointly by police from Cumilla’s 18 police stations and the DB. In the latest, fifth phase of the drive, conducted on the night of 2 October, police detained 370 people.
Of them, 279 were released into their families’ custody after signing undertakings, while legal action was taken against the remaining 91. During that operation, four people were arrested, including Imran Hossain, alias Ratan, leader of the notorious teenage gang known as the ‘Ratan Group’ or ‘R Squad’.
According to previous police figures, a total of 2,042 people had been detained in the first five phases of the operation. Following verification, 1,409 were released into their families’ custody after signing undertakings. Legal action was taken against the others based on allegations and information about their involvement in criminal activities.
Police intensified the drive against teenage gangs in the district following the murder of Ishayat Shahriar Apratim, a Class VII student and son of Nahida Begum, an associate professor in the Department of Bangla at Cumilla University.
After he went missing on 18 September, his body was recovered the following day from a wooded area in the Lalmai hills in the Sananda area of Sadar South upazila. The incident prompted calls for stronger action to curb teenage gang activities and prevent juvenile crime.
Police said decisions regarding those detained were being made after checking information about their alleged links to teenage gangs, involvement in drug-related activities and other cases, as well as outstanding arrest warrants. Such operations would continue to prevent juvenile crime, they added.