254 held in fresh crackdown on teen gangs in Cumilla, including Ratan Group's 'no. 2'

Police conducted a simultaneous anti-teen-gang crackdown across 18 police station areas in Cumilla. A total of 254 people were detained in the operation, which began at 8:00 pm on Saturday and continued until late at night.

Police said four active members of the widely discussed Ratan Group, or R Squad, in Cumilla city were among those detained. One of them, Anisur Rahman alias Anik, 19, is the gang’s “second-in-command.”

Cumilla district police media officer and Additional Superintendent of Police Lutfur Rahman told Prothom Alo at around 2:00 am on Sunday that the operation was conducted simultaneously across all 18 police station areas as part of the regular anti-teen-gang campaign.

He said police identified areas in the city and elsewhere where groups of unruly youths and teen gangs were active and conducted raids there.

Lutfur Rahman said, “A total of 254 people were detained in the operation. Their involvement in criminal activities is being verified, and necessary legal action is being taken. The district police regularly conduct such operations to prevent teenagers and young people from becoming involved in criminal activities.”

Police from Kotwali Model Police Station detained 37 people during raids in various parts of Cumilla city on Saturday night. Police said four of them were directly involved with teen gangs. All four are active members of Ratan Group.

One of those detained is Anisur Rahman alias Anik, 19. He is the son of Abul Kashem of Chhotara Mafizabad Colony in the city. Police said Anik is the nephew of Ratan Group leader Imran Hossain alias Ratan. As Ratan is currently in hiding, Anik is controlling the group’s activities, according to police.

Kotwali Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Touhidul Anwar told Prothom Alo at around 2:30 am on Sunday, “A total of 37 people were detained in tonight’s anti-teen-gang operation. We conducted raids in areas of the city where teen gangs gather and attempt to engage in criminal activities.”

The OC added, “Among those detained is teen gang leader Anisur Rahman Anik. We detained four people who are directly involved with teen gangs. All of them are active members of Ratan Group. Anisur Rahman is currently controlling the entire Ratan Group, or R Squad, as Ratan’s second-in-command.”

According to police, Anik was named as an accused in the case filed over a 2022 murder allegedly committed by members of a teen gang. He was also arrested in that case. Police said he later secured bail and became involved in leading the gang again.

OC Touhidul Anwar said, “Among those detained in Saturday’s operation are people accused of involvement in various offences, including snatching and association with a banned organisation. Their detailed identities and information about previous offences are being verified. Legal action will be taken afterward.”

Earlier, police conducted another simultaneous anti-teen-gang operation across 18 police station areas in Cumilla from Wednesday evening until late at night. Police detained 624 people in that operation.

Of them, 451 were released into the custody of their parents after their guardians signed undertakings. Legal action was taken against the remaining 173 over various allegations, including drug use, existing criminal cases, mobile courts, association with a banned organisation and outstanding arrest warrants.

Teen gang activity in Cumilla is nothing new. However, the issue came under renewed scrutiny following the murder of 13-year-old seventh-grade student Ishayat Shahriar Apratim.

Apratim went missing after leaving his home in Gandhamati, Kotbari, on 18 September. His body was recovered the following day from an isolated forest on Lalmai Hill in Sananda village of Bijoypur Union, Sadar South upazila.

Police have so far arrested four people in the case, two of them minors. Police said three people, including 19-year-old Saiful Islam Tuhin, whom police identify as the mastermind of the killing, have given confessional statements before a court. Another person has been shown arrested as an accomplice to the murder.

Ratan Group, or R Squad, is one of the prominent teen gangs in Cumilla city. The group’s name has emerged at various times since teen-gang activities in the city came under discussion around 2015.