Theft and snatching are increasing rapidly in the country including the capital Dhaka despite regular drives by law enforcement agencies.
Although police arrest the thieves and muggers every day from various spots, the number of culprits does not decrease across the country. Moreover, the number of theft and muggings is increasing daily at every corner of Bangladesh.
According to a report of the last six months of the police department, apprehension of dacoity at the houses of the people is a big concern of the law enforcers.
The report said a total of 1,165 theft incidents and 85 snatching and decoity incidents were registered from January to June. Fifty-five police members were injured during the period to control these crimes. Police filed 45 arms recovery cases and 40 cases under the explosives act.
Police Headquarters has already given 10-point directions to each unit to keep more vigilance to bring the situation to control. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has also issued a special message to officer-in-charges of 50 police stations in this regard.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Director General Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun told Bangladesh Pratidin that the incidents of theft and snatching increased recently in the country. Every RAB battalion has been instructed to control these incidents.
On Thursday last, RAB detained a mugger named Arif Hossain while he was running away after snatching a gold chain of a woman at Kamalapur Railway Station. The elite force has received much information about other muggers from him. Arif was arrested twice earlier.
Based on his information, RAB detained 28 snatchers on the same night from Shahjahanpur, Motijheel, Mugda, Hatirjheel, and Tejgaon. RAB also seized various mugging tolls, gold chains, cash and 18 mobile phones from their possessions.
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sources said around 70 per cent of criminals staying in the capital committed crimes repeatedly. They are being arrested daily. And after a few days, they get bail from the court. They once again engage in various crimes. CID is registering 2,000-2,500 fingerprints of new criminals every month.
Recently, gold ornaments weighing around 46 bhori were stolen from the flat of a former additional IGP Khandkar Mozammel Haque in the city's New Eskaton Garden. However, police could not arrest anyone in this regard till filing this report on Friday night.
Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit said it has recently arrested JMB member Hafizur Rahman alias Sokal. According to Hafizur, they (JMB members) were planning to decoit by preparing a list of the rich people across the country.
Nur Mohammad, former inspector general of police, said, the allegations cannot be proved due to a lack of proper investigation. Criminals could not get bail within a short time if the right investigations are done maintaining proper procedures. Besides, a criminal engages himself in crimes because of a prolonged trial.
DMP Additional Commissioner AKM Hafiz Akter said, “We are bringing theft incidents in the monitoring cell. These incidents are being given special importance. All crime divisions have been given special instruction in this regard.”
@The article was published on print and online versions of Bangladesh Pratidin on September 10, 2022 and has been rewritten in English by Golam Rosul.
