Muggers, robbers run rampant in Dhaka

Rabiul Islam, a security guard, was stabbed dead by a group of muggers at Dhaka Udyan in the capital’s Mohammadpur on 10 October. Eden College vice-principal Momtaz Shahnara’s house was robbed in broad daylight on 18 October. A group of 9-10 robbers entered the house and looted 83 bhoris of gold jewelleries and Tk 1.5 million at gunpoint.

The city is seeing a spike in crime, with muggers and robber gangs running rampant, as demonstrated by these two incidents. At the same time, the number of killings is also rising. People are being mugged and robbed at any place from local main roads and narrow lanes to upscale areas. As a result, the people are passing days in fear. Meanwhile, local residents of Mohammadpur staged demonstrations in front of the police station in protest of the decline in law and order in the area.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Mohammadpur police station officer-in-charge Ali Iftekhar Hasan said Mohammadpur has always been one of most crime-prone areas of the city due to different reasons. The police are not being able to properly patrol the area due to lack of manpower.

According to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), from 1 September to 23 October, as many as 192 people were killed in the city, including 21 in Mohammadpur alone. The number was 11 and 19 in September and October last year respectively.

Similarly, crimes like snatching and robbery have also increased. However, the victims do not want to file any case or complaint in most of these cases.

The DMP figures show, a total of 26 cases were filed on the allegation of mugging in the first 23 days of the last month. Some four robbery cases were filed at the same time. In September, the DMP registered some 15 cases of snatching and five robbery cases.

The number of cases filed over mugging was 29 in September last year. No robbery case was registered that month. Some 28 cases of mugging and three robbery cases were registered the next month.

The police, victims and hospital sources say police services and activities completely collapsed following the fall of Awami League government on 5 July in the face of the mass uprising of students and people.

Although the police gradually resumed activities, crime, including mugging and robbery, saw a sudden spike in different parts of the city. Reports of such incidents appear in the media only if the victim files a complaint or is injured. There are several other cases where the victims do not want to report a complaint in fear of being harassed and considering the subsequent hassles.

Therefore, the number of cases registered with the police is quite low as compared to the actual number of such crimes. There are allegations that the police are often unwilling to register cases to make the law and order situation look good to top officials. There are also precedents of complaints over criminal offences such as mugging being registered as general diary (GD).

On 30 September, a youth named Rasel Sikder was stabbed to death by a mugger gang at around 8:30 pm in the Kutubkhali area under the Jatrabari police station.

Mustakim Alif, 25, was stabbed to death by snatchers in Nikunja early morning on 24 September. Day labourer Alamgir Bepari was killed at the hands of muggers in Mitford area of Puran Dhaka on 16 September.

On 3 September, muggers stabbed Md Hashem, a local raw material trader, to death in Merajnagar of Kadamtali. On the same day, muggers in disguise of passengers killed battery-powered-auto-rickshaw driver Sadekin early morning in the capital’s Hazaribagh.

Earlier, on 27 August, a youth named Jarraf Ahmed was killed by snatchers in the city’s Darussalam area just after reaching Dhaka from Naogaon early in the morning on 27 August.

The robbery at a businessman's residence in the capital’s Mohammadpur area on 11 October was one of the major incidents in recent times that drew massive public attention. The robbers wearing uniform of Bangladesh Army and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) looted Tk 7.5 million in cash and 70 bhoris of gold from that house. However, the law enforcement agencies were quick to arrest the persons involved in the robbery analysing the CCTV footage.

Speaking to several police officials, it has been learnt the police faced a massive backlash after the fall of Sheikh Hasina on 5 August over opening fire on students and people during the movement in July and August. A number of police stations and police vehicles were set on fire. There was no police force in the country for a week.

Although the police members returned to their stations later, their activities, including patrolling, are yet to resume in full swing due to the crisis of vehicles and manpower. Taking advantage of the situation, the criminal gangs are getting reckless. New criminal gangs have sprung up in several areas. There are also reports of suspended members of law enforcement getting involved in robbery.

Several police sources say the interim government brought massive reshuffles at the field level of the DMP. Now, a major portion of the police force at the stations in the capital is from outside Dhaka. They are still not familiar with the lanes and areas within the city. At the same time, they are yet to build a proper network of sources (informers). As a result, the law enforcement agency is struggling to restore law and order.

In this circumstance, DMP commissioner Md Mainul Hassan stressed on victims going to police stations to file complaints.

He told Prothom Alo the police have been provided with 300 motorcycles for patrol to prevent mugging and robbery. The police vehicles, which were burnt, have been repaired. The police and the RAB are working around the clock to keep the law and order situation in control, the DMP chief said.

The local residents staged demonstrations in front of the police station protesting the declining law and order situation in Mohammadpur. Following that, the army, police and RAB launched joint drives on that very night. As of Friday, a total of 108 people have been arrested by the joint force for being involved in mugging and robbery.

Although the situation improved to some extent in Mohammadpur after that, it remained unchanged in other areas of Dhaka.

A woman named Ayesha Akter, 28, was shot dead during clashes between two local gangs to establish supremacy in drug trade. Ayesha was standing by the window of a two-storey house near the spot.

Meanwhile, inspector general of police (IGP) Md Mainul Islam has ordered all units of police to further intensify the ongoing drives against violence, mugging, extortion, drugs, teen gangs, and people defying traffic rules in a notice issued last Monday.

Speaking to Prothom Alo regarding this, RAB director general AKM Shahidur Rahman said, “Mugging and robberies have increased in Mohammadpur. The joint force is conducting raids there. Several people involved in these criminal activities have been arrested. The process is underway to arrest the others.”

“Efforts are being made to ensure that the law and order situation remains normal in the entire Dhaka city and to prevent the surge of criminal activities,” he added.

*This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu