Cumilla police of 18 police stations conduct anti-teen gang raids, detain 624 people

Police detained 624 people for questioning during an anti-teenage gang operation in Cumilla. Police from all 18 police stations in the district launched the operation simultaneously after Wednesday evening and continued it until 1:30 am.

The detainees include students from various educational institutions. Police said they would investigate the detainees and take further legal action as necessary.

Cumilla District Police media officer and Additional Superintendent of Police Md Lutfur Rahman confirmed the matter to Prothom Alo.

Speaking at around 2:00 am on Wednesday night, he said police had recently found the involvement of teenagers in various criminal activities.

Against this backdrop, police conducted simultaneous operations at all 18 police stations in the district on the instructions of Superintendent of Police Md Anisuzzaman.

Current official and news reports also identify Md Anisuzzaman as the Superintendent of Police of Cumilla and Md Lutfur Rahman as a district police media officer and additional superintendent of police.

The police officer said the teams conducted raids in areas where “troublemakers” cause disturbances and teenage gangs operate. He added that police were checking whether the detained teenagers had previously been involved in any offences before taking the necessary legal measures.

Police said the detainees include 75 people from Cumilla Kotwali model police station, 46 from Sadar South model police station, 50 from Burichang Police Station, 41 from Manoharganj police station, 59 from Daudkandi police station and 35 from Laksam police station. Police are also verifying information on detainees from the other police stations.

Towhidul Anwar, officer-in-charge (OC) of Cumilla Kotwali model police station, said police were also checking which of the detainees were students.

If they find evidence of involvement in criminal activities, police will produce them before the court on Thursday. They may warn the others and hand them over to their families.

After the operation began, parents started gathering outside Cumilla Kotwali model police station, Sadar South model police station and several other police stations from 8:00 pm on Wednesday.

They rushed to the police stations after learning that their children had been detained. Many remained outside the police stations until late at night.

Among those detained by Cumilla Kotwali model police station, several were picked up from the city’s Eidgah field. One of them is a Class 10 student at a well-known school in the city.

His father lives abroad, while his mother lives with other family members in the Nazrul Avenue area of the city. She rushed to the police station after learning that her son had been detained.

The woman told Prothom Alo, “My son went for private tuition after the evening. At around 9:30 pm, I learnt that he had been detained at the police station. I later brought his school identity card. The police said they would release him after checking if he had not committed any offence. Apparently, several of them were sitting and chatting there. From now on, I will pay extra attention to my son. I do not want my son to go astray.”

Police detained most of the teenagers held in the Cumilla Sadar South model police station area from various locations around Cumilla University and the Kotbari area. One of them is a 16-year-old boy. His father works at an organisation in the Kotbari area. After learning that police had detained his son, the man waited outside Sadar south police station until midnight.

The man told Prothom Alo, “My son was talking to several friends in front of the Government Polytechnic Institute in Kotbari. My son is not involved with any teenage gang. He passed the SSC examination this year. The police also took him away. The police operation against teenage gangs is positive. However, bringing everyone, including students and other good boys, to the police station in the name of an operation will not solve the problem.”

Teenage gang activity is not new in Cumilla. However, the issue has come under renewed scrutiny following the killing of 13-year-old Ishayat Shahriar Apratim on Friday night. Apratim, the only child of Nahida Begum, an associate professor in the Department of Bangla at Cumilla University, was a Class 7 student at Cumilla Border Guard Public School.

Apratim went missing after leaving his rented home in the Gandhamati area of Kotbari at noon on 18 September. Police recovered his bloodied body the following afternoon, Saturday, from an isolated forest in Lalmai Hills in Sananda village under Bijoypur Union of Sadar South upazila.

Police have so far arrested four people in connection with the incident. Two of them are teenagers. Police said three of the accused, including 19-year-old Saiful Islam Tuhin, whom police have identified as the main perpetrator, gave confessional statements before the court.

Police arrested another 19-year-old man as an alleged accomplice in the killing. Recent reports identify Saiful Islam Tuhin as the main accused in the case.

Following Apratim’s killing, teachers and students of Cumilla University demanded action against teenage gangs through various programmes. On Wednesday, Prothom Alo published a special report highlighting the spread of teenage gangs in Cumilla, their activities and their involvement in criminal offences.

A Prothom Alo investigation found that several teenage gangs or groups are currently active in Cumilla city. The names of King Squad, Squad or Ratan Group, Eagle, CBK and Crime Setup have come up in discussions.

Local sources and various law enforcement records have also referred to two other groups associated with the names Apu and Sabbir. However, the police do not have an updated list of teenage gangs operating in Cumilla district.

The report found that teenage gang activity in Cumilla city first came under widespread attention around 2015. At that time, three or four groups were active.

By around 2022, the number of prominent groups had increased to at least 20. Members of teenage gangs have been named in at least 12 murder cases between 2017 and 2025.

In an earlier report by Prothom Alo, Cumilla Superintendent of Police Md Anisuzzaman said police had arrested more than 250 teenage gang members since he took charge on 30 November last year.

However, because many of them are minors, some are released soon after their arrest and become involved in similar offences again. Police have also summoned many parents and taken written undertakings from them.

Speaking about Wednesday’s operation, Additional Superintendent of Police Lutfur Rahman said the district police would conduct such operations regularly to prevent teenage gang members from becoming involved in criminal activities.