Murders on the rise in Dhaka: DMP

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Various types of criminal activities, including murder, extortion, snatching and stealing, have increased in the capital Dhaka. This deteriorating scenario was found after an analysis of cases filed with 50 police stations under Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) between January and February.

According to DMP, nine people were killed in January while the figure for February was 12. Of them, five murders occurred in Mirpur.

This month, March, several murders took place in Dhaka city. On Thursday, Motijheel thana Awami-League (AL) leader Zahidul Islam alias Tipu was shot dead in broad daylight on the busy street of the capital. A miscreant aimed at his car with rifle and shot indiscriminately to ensure his death. College student Samiya Afnan was also killed in the incident.

Along with the killing, the theft of vehicles, including motorbikes, have risen. In February, 36 cases were filed is this regard, which was higher than that of January by a margin of five cases.

In last two months, 16 lawsuits—nine in February and seven in January—were lodged in Dhaka over extortion. However, many don’t want to file cases to avoid the hassle and the threat from the perpetrators.

DMP received 10 cases over snatching: five cases each in January and February. But the statistics doesn’t represent the real scenario as the majority of the victims don’t file cases with the police station.

In the third week of this current month, Khandaker Polash, an employee of a private firm, was a victim of snatching at around 8:00pm while returning home from office by rickshaw at Merul Badda.

He told Prothom Alo that he was talking on the phone. Suddenly, a youth came up, snatched his mobile phone and fled. Fearing hassle, he never reported this at the police station.

Drug addicts are often involved in stealing and snatching to manage the money to purchase their drugs, police claim.

DMP media center deputy-commissioner Faruk Hossain said all police stations are asked to beef up patrolling and surveillance to control these criminal activities.