Incidents of mugging have increased alarmingly in the city with organised gangs of snatchers on the prowl to make quick bucks ahead of Ramadan.
According to sources in the police, incidents of mugging are taking place in the city streets even in broad daylight as the police have seemingly concentrated more on tackling the opposition’s street agitations than on curbing petty crimes.
As many as 21 incidents of snatching have been reported to the capital’s Jatrabari police station between July 15 and July 26. The actual number of mugging would be higher as many of them go unreported, police and locals said.
Jatrabari police officer-in-charge Abul Kashem said that the authorities had asked the police to be on guard against any ‘street violence’ by the opposition.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police sources said that 58 incidents of mugging were reported in the city in June while the number was 47 in May.
Dhaka University student Hassan Ahmed, who was recently mugged at Kamalpur in broad daylight when he was on his way to the university along with a friend, told New Age that snatchers had taken away his wallet and mobile phone in front of Kamalapur railway station at about 11:00am.
He alleged that the snatchers had left the place safely although police were on duty just 25 yards away. The police made no attempt to catch them even after he reported the incident to them.
‘Such crimes are taking place quite often because of deteriorating law and order in city,’ he said.
Mohammad Rahmatullah, a 35-year-old trader at Jurain, who was recently mugged after he came out of a Dutch Bangla Bank ATM booth at Dholairpar, told New Age that the gang had made off with Taka 10,000 he had withdrawn.
‘I saw no police nearby at that time. It was around 10:30pm,’he said.
Abdul Hakim, a security guard at an ATM booth of Dutch Bangla Bank Limited on the Dhaka University campus, told New Age that guards felt unsafe at dead of night as no police were seen in the area after midnight.
‘We do our duties unarmed risking our lives.
We have nothing to do but watch when muggers attack people and take away their money,’ he said.
He said that the area around the Teacher-Student Centre usually turns desolate after midnight when police were seldom seen on the streets.
Muggers do not only lurk on the streets in Paltan and Farmgate areas, but are also reportedly active in other areas such as Motijheel, Bangabandhu Avenue, Dainik Bangla crossing, Shahbagh, Karwan Bazar, Shyamali, Kakoli, Mohakhali, Malibagh, Sayedabad, Moghbazar and Wari.
‘Most of these muggers are drug addicts, carry weapons like knives and are deft at stealing money. It is difficult to catch them as they run away quickly after committing the crime,’ said Hasan Mollah, a bus driver on Route-8 in Dhaka.
Inspector general of police Hasan Mahmud Khandaker told New Age that the police had been asked to deploy personnel at strategic points such as in front of ATM booths and shops in the city.
He said that they had also instructed respective police stations to strengthen vigilance by police in plainclothes at strategic points.
Courtesy of New Age
