Just like every year, as yet another Eid-ul-Fitr draws near, incidents of street mugging have started rising in Dhaka.
There has not been a single day since Ramadan began on June 19 that at least one mugging victim has not been admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
These people usually come to hospital with injuries from sharp weapons, even sometimes from gunshots. However, in recent times, there have been several incidents when the criminals killed the victims for no apparent reason after robbing them.
Law enforcers attribute this rise to the Ramadan surge in economic activities in the country, especially in the capital, as people carry more cash with them than any other time of the year.
On June 24, a group of muggers stabbed to death readymade garment factory worker Nurul Alam, 24, in the city’s Sayedabad area. Nurul had only Tk1,400 on him. The two muggers, Alamgir and Babu, however were caught by Jatrabari police. Asked whey they had killed him, they said Nurul could have shouted for help had they not killed him.
On June 27, Md Obaidul Haque, 38, a zonal manager of Kwality Ice Cream, was returning home by rickshaw when a gang of muggers on a motorbike blocked his way in Kalabagan area. Holding him at gunpoint, one mugger took away his purse, laptop and mobile phones, and before leaving the area shot him in the head.
Law enforcers said professional muggers do not generally kill victims. It is the seasonal mugging gangs who come out on the streets before Eid that leave the victims dead out of fear.
Sometimes muggers rob people by identifying themselves as law enforcers.
Recently, a man named Shamim Hossain withdrew Tk1.7 lakh from the Kalabagan branch of Dhaka Bank and went to the Gawsia Market. There he was waiting for transport when a microbus stopped in front of him. Several armed men came out of it, identified themselves as DB officials and picked him up. Later, they took the money and freed Shamim.
When contacted, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said they had already arrested a number of these gangs. He assured of taking appropriate actions if any police official is found guilty of committing such crimes.
According to DMP statistics, a total of 11 mugging cases were filed in January, 13 in February, 18 in March and 10 in April. But, there has been a sudden spike in May with 21 mugging cases reported around Dhaka.
This has gone further up in June with 27 cases filed as of the 26th and 10 of those incidents took place in the first eight days of Ramadan.
These are, however, just the cases that had been reported to police; more people had been taking treatment at the two biggest public hospitals in Dhaka – the DMCH and the Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital, also known as the Mitford Hospital.
On June 27, a total of 45 victims of mugging were receiving treatment in these two hospitals.
Detectives have identified 400 different spots in Dhaka city which are particularly prone to mugging because they become deserted early in the morning and during iftar and Taraweeh prayers in the evening.
Some of the most risky areas are Pragati Sarani, Rampura, Malibagh, Shahjahanpur, Khilgaon, Shantinagar, Kakrail, Bijoynagar, Motijheel, Shahbagh, Jatrabari, Farmgate, Gabtoli, Mirpur and Karwan Bazar.
When contacted, Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of police’s Detective Branch, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had already launched special drives to catch the muggers by setting up traps.
They have also asked bank officials to keep police in the loop before a big cash transaction takes place, Monirul said.
