Ahead of Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr, different gangs of miscreants, including ogyan party, molom party, muggers and fake note brokers have recently appeared in force across the port city and its adjoining areas.
As part of the new move, police noticed that many thugs from other districts have also started entering the city to commit crimes.
Police sources said they observe this trend usually at the start of Ramadan every year, but this year the rogues have been trying to be active about a week before the season, aiming to shun the action from law enforcing agencies.
Chittagong Metropolitan Police spotted the trick through busting yesterday two gangs of the molom party that apply balm on the eyes to snatch people’s belongings, as well as frauds.
Bandar and Double Mooring police in an overnight drive arrested a total of seven members of a 30-member molom party and a 10-member fraud gang, police said.
They entered the city a few days back ahead of the biggest festival of the Muslims, said Bandar police station OC AKM Moiuddin Selim.
“Acting on a tip-off, we nabbed Abu Bakar Siddique alias Imran Ahmed, Amir Hossain Amir, Mosarraf Hossain, and Md Hashem along with recovering a lighter gun, three cartridges, two machetes, a chopper, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw and some materials being used in robbery,” the OC continued.
Several cases were booked with different police stations there against them for the same offence before Eid last year, he said, adding that there are 30 members in the racket, although its ring leader, named Abul Hashem, was on the run.
Earlier, in the last couple of weeks, the gangs took part in about 10 incidents across the city, confirms the OC.
Besides, another team from Bandar police nabbed Abdus Sattar, Jafor and Babul from the area in a private car. They are members of a gang that snatch money, deceiving bank customers in different ways.
In the last year, the gang consisted of 11 members and its some key members were also arrested that time; they have become active anew after coming out on bail.
Though most of the 475 listed members of the dupe gang, molom party, frauds, muggers, counterfeit note brokers and robbers were arrested earlier, they recently started coming out of jail on bail, said sources at Chittagong Central Jail.
When asked, Bakalia police station OC Mohammad Mohsin echoed the voice of Bandar OC, saying that the possible crimes could be checked if the criminals were arrested during their entering the city, while its execution is very easy at the entrance points than in the other areas of the city.
The CMP’s Detective Branch Additional Deputy Commissioner Tanvir Arafat, also the spokesman of CMP, said they have remained alert of the movement of miscreants and frauds during Ramadan and Eid.
“We have regular check-posts on the entrance points – City Gate, Natun Bridge, Oxygen, Patenga and Kalurghat, in line with which we have also increased our vigilance across the city,” Tanvir said.
In this regard, CMP Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operation) Devdas Bhattacharya told the Dhaka Tribune they would take enhanced security measures particularly at the shopping malls, bus stations, railway stations and the jetties on the occasion of Ramadan and Eid.
“Our strong surveillance has been proved by busting the two fraud gangs yesterday,” the newly-joined additional commissioner went on.
