Gunmen shot dead a woman and injured her husband before hijacking the couple’s motorbike in Gazipur yesterday. The dead is Zulekha Begum, 22, and the wounded Shamim Hossain, 32.
A gang of four in a car chased the couple and blocked their way at Salna of Gazipur around 6:00am. The couple were on their way to Sherpur to visit Zulekha’s family, said Md Manjur, cousin of Shamim.
Three of the gang got off from the car and demanded the bike at gunpoint, he added.
Refused, they engaged into a scuffle with Shamim. At one stage, the gang opened fire, hitting Zulekha in the chest and elbow and Shamim in the left thigh.
Before fleeing away, the gunmen also snatched the couple’s wallets and mobile phones, Manjur said.
Locals took the couple to a hospital where doctors declared Zulekha dead. Shamim was later shifted to a private hospital in Uttara. He has already been operated once and will require undergoing another, doctors said.
Quoting locals Manjur said almost immediately after shooting the couple, the gang hijacked another motorcycle from the area. The riders — a man and a child — escaped unhurt.
Contacted, Joydevpur Police Station Officer-in-charge SM Kamruzzaman said they were informed of the incidents by the locals and that they were investigating them.
Of late, carjacking in and around the capital has seen an alarming rise.
Montasir Rahman, assistant superintendent of detective branch (DB) of police, told this correspondent that the police received about 30 carjacking cases per month. “Different groups are active in the business in different areas of the city. We are trying to identify them.”
Sources in the police say the number of carjacking cases is much higher as most of the carjacking incidents remain unreported.
In August, law enforcers arrested at least 15 people over carjacking in the capital, recovering six cars and a motorbike from them.
Earlier in February, detectives arrested three alleged carjackers and recovered stolen parts of four vehicles at Siddhirganj in Narayanganj.
Despite such frequent arrests, carjacking in the capital is rampant because most of the arrestees come out of jail on bail and resume their old “business”.
“It’s true that criminals get bail and then start all over again. We’re trying to find a way to keep them in jail for a longer period,” said Nazrul Islam, deputy police commissioner of DB.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
