Arrests made yesterday unveiled a brand new manner of theft being used by gangs operating in the capital’s hospitals, with parents giving their infants a head-start in a life of crime.
Imagine a 20-something woman, carrying a one and a half year old child, shiftlessly wandering the hospital premises. She waits for a crowd of patients and their families to congregate, and then silently mills about the gathering crowd, hoping to make off with whatever valuables they carelessly drop or leave behind.
Crucially, her felonious technique hinges upon the child nestled at her breast. After pinching something of value, she hands it over to the child so that if anyone asks, she can claim the child mistakenly took it.
Police officials, recently made aware of this novel style of thievery, arrested 12 members of an organised crime gang with the help of Ansar officials at Birdem Hospital yesterday.
The arrestees were identified as Sufia Khatun, 40, Rozina Akther, 25, Shahana Begum, 22, Jahanara, 30, Morium, 25, along with her 10-month old boy Shahin, Mafia Khatun, 30, Reshma Begum, 27, Tanzina, 25, Togura Begum, 23, Sultana, 20, Nargis, 27, along with her 14-month old girl Shirin, and Munni, 22.
All hail from Dhormontor village in Nasirnagar of Brahmanbaria.
Sayed Ibne Siddique, sub-inspector (SI) of Ramna police station, told the Dhaka Tribune that Ansar officials at Birdem Hospital handed the women over to them around 9am, after their movements at the hospital raised suspicions.
“In interrogation, they confessed that they had adopted this technique to steal from hospitals in the capital,” said SI Siddique.
Rozina, an arrestee, described their method. After surveying a hospital ward, they would select their target and start gossiping with them.
While talking with the patients’ relatives, they would pick something up and keep it in their possession before quietly slipping away, she said.
The infants were used to get sympathy, to provide an alibi if caught and to provide a quick escape.
The rest of the gang, pretending to be strangers, waited nearby at the ready, and stepped in to distract and cajole the targets if they grew suspicious, she said.
Their job was to try to convince the targets and extricate their fellows if at risk of being caught.
SI Siddique said Ansar officials had received several complaints and were on alert.
“We could not retrieve any of the stolen goods from their possession. A case was filed against them under section 77 of the DMP ordinance,” SI Siddique said.
According to section 77 of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) ordinance, whoever wilfully puts, presses, hustles or obstructs any passenger in any street or public place, or by violent movement, menacing gesture, screaming, shouting, wilfully frightening an animal or otherwise disturbs the public peace and order shall be punishable with fines.
Assistant Sub-Inspector Atowar of Ramna police station filed the case and produced the arrestees at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court, where magistrate Mostafizur Rahman awarded them bail after fining each of them Tk500.
