Muggers getting reckless ahead of Eid

Muggers in Dhaka are becoming desperate to make money ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr as more and more people are becoming their victims every day. Some victims were required to be admitted to hospital for treatment. Police sources said more then 500 incidents of mugging took place in Dhaka last month. An intelligence report submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs says 282 muggers and dope gangs are active in Dhaka ahead of Eid but the number of crimes committed by them are not going down. An NGO official named Saiful Islam Murad was shot yesterday afternoon and Tk5 lakh was snatched from him in Hazaribagh. The incident took place hours after Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia announced that police would open fire to stop mugging in Dhaka if necessary. On Wednesday evening, BBC journalist Sharmin Roma was mugged near Sultana Kamal Mahila Complex in Dhanmondi. She sustained injuries in her right shoulder as the mugger pulled her bag and dragged her on the road, BBC Bangla reported. DMP Assistant Commissioner (Dhanmondi zone) Ruhul Amin Sagor told the Dhaka Tribune police were looking into the incident but none had been arrested in this connection. In another incident on Sunday, Sadia Akhter Chowdhury, a master’s student at Eden College, fell prey to muggers near Bangladesh Medical College Hospital while on her way to the exam hall in New Market area. She got injured in the head, nose and shoulder as she fell from rickshaw when her purse was snatched. Sadia’s family did not go to police to report the crime. Her elder brother Rasel A Chowdhury Rajib said: “I am a victim of bomb attack and did not get justice. So what would happen even we file a general diary over what happened to my sister?” Victims say the crimes are mostly taking place in the early hours of the day and also late at night, with some happening even near police checkpoints. Many of the criminals also introduced themselves as law enforcers. Police said they had identified some 50 mugging-prone areas in Dhaka, including Agargaon, Taltola, Mirpur Zoo road, Jatrabari, Chittagong road, Sayedabad, areas adjacent to Dhaka University, Bangshal, Gulshan and Badda. They said they were increasing patrol in those areas to check crimes. After a meeting with law enforcement agencies at the Secretariat, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday told reporters he had directed members of the agencies to work efficiently in order to prevent any sort of untoward incident in the capital. Meanwhile, after attending a meeting on law and order and traffic management in Gabtoli area yesterday, DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said police were taking stern action to stop crimes such as snatching and mugging. “Police will open fire on criminals if necessary because the law says they can do so to protect people’s life and property,” he explained. Police also issued a press release yesterday, seeking people’s assistance in stopping crimes like mugging.