In spite of an order from the inspector general of police to ramp up vigilance, people across the country continue to fall prey to muggers, who are coming up with new ways to commit crimes.
During the quarterly meeting of the police department at police headquarters on last Sunday, Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmood Khandker directed to heighten patrol to check robbery and mugging, including street crimes.
But a week is yet to go by since the order was given and muggers yesterday attacked an ambulance carrying a dead body in Bashpatti of Tongi. They took away all the valuables of the relatives of the deceased.
Rajib, who was in the ambulance, said his brother Shahjahan Talukdar died at a hospital in the capital on Thursday night and the ambulance was hired to transport the body to Gazipur.
“We set off at night and a group of muggers intercepted the ambulance in Bashpatti around 3am. They took away Tk10,000 in cash, gold ornaments, my brother’s death certificate and three mobile phones,” he said.
He claimed the crime was committed in the presence of police but they did not take any action.
The family members also claimed that police had connection with the criminals as law enforcers returned the death certificate immediately after they had reached home.
But Sub-Inspector of Bashpatti patrol police Abdul Mannan denied this, saying police tried to capture the culprits immediately but they managed to flee.
“While escaping, the muggers threw the death certificate out on the street. We picked it and returned it to the victim’s family,” he added.
Police sources said over 50 incidents of mugging took place on highways in the last six months. A special team was formed to stop such crimes but the move was unfruitful.
Like Shahjahan’s family, many alleged links between police and muggers but Deputy Inspector General Asaduzzaman Mia, chief of highway police, termed the allegations baseless.
“We are trying our best to stop such crimes,” he said.
The register book of Dhaka Medical College Hospital shows that nearly 400 mugging victims were treated at the hospital from January to November this year.
Sources said at least 300 people in 30 groups are involved in robbery and mugging, with most of the highway robberies committed after 11pm and mugging before 8am.
Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said police vigilance was beefed up in crime-prone parts of the capital but some incidents were still taking place.
“We are working to prevent such crimes and also to arrest the criminals,” he added.
Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, state minister for home, said mugging and robbery were not commonplace in the country.
He said those were isolated incidents and police had been asked to crack down on criminals involved in such crimes.
