Mugger walks away with machete after snatching bag in police presence

A video showing a mugger threatening a youth with a machete and snatching his bag before casually walking past on-duty police officers has gone viral on social media. The footage spread online on Friday evening, though the incident took place just after midnight on Thursday in front of Russell Square, near Dhanmondi-32 in Dhaka, according to police.

In the video, a man wearing a printed shirt and black pants is seen threatening another young man in a white shirt and jeans with a machete. At one point, the former grabs the latter’s bag and walks away, crossing the street.

Three police personnel, including two in uniform and one in plain clothes, were seen nearby managing traffic when the mugger was walking right past them with the weapon in hand. A significant number of people were present at the spot but were watching the scene without intervening.

The incident took place on the opposite side of the New Model Multilateral High School, as seen in the video.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Officer-in-Charge of Dhanmondi Police Station, Kashainyu Marma, confirmed the incident occurred after midnight on Thursday. He said the victim has not yet been identified but the police have collected the video footage.

OC Marma added that traffic tends to be heavy at Russell Square after 12:00am. Also, there are some night coach stands nearby. The on-duty traffic policemen were focused on managing vehicle movement at the time.

Shah Mostafa Tarikuzzaman, senior assistant commissioner of the Dhanmondi zone police, told Prothom Alo that police are working to identify and arrest the mugger based on the footage. He expressed hope that the suspect will soon be apprehended.

Earlier, on 11 July, a similar incident took place in Shyamoli, where a youth named Shimion Tripura was mugged. A video of the incident also went viral on social media.