A new gang of muggers and robbers named Gantabya Party is active on the country’s highways and looting money and valuables of the passengers dodging the eyes of law enforcement agencies.
This Gantabya Party has become worrisome to the long-route passengers. Even the gang is active in the capital Dhaka also.
According to the police, members of the Gantabya Party wait on the highways for a bus in the guise of the passengers. As a tactic, they make short-time relationships with other passengers taking the advantage of transport crisis. At one stage, gang members want to know the destination of their fellow passengers. After a few minutes, a microbus reached the spot and start calling the passengers for the same destination at the same fare as a bus. Responding to the call, people board the microbus and become the victim of snatching and robbery.
The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) under Gulshan Zone has recently arrested three members of the Gantabya Party and knew the whereabouts of the new gang.
Police said arrested three members of the gang are involved with more than 200 snatching and dacoity incidents on the highway using microbus traps. Dhaka-Mawa Expressway, Tongi-Gazipur, Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Chattogram highways are the main routes of the Gantabya Party. When the gang, do not find their targets on the highways, they come to the capital and snatch money, mobile and other valuables from the passengers.
The gang was snatching and committing robbery on the highways for the last 16 years.
On September 14 this year, muggers looted Tk 1 lakh 7 thousand from Rafique (Pseudonym) from Purbachal 300 Feet area and left him near Kanchan Bridge tied with rope. He later filed a case with Khilket Police Station in this regard. Police arrested Delwar Hossain alias Saltu, Kamal Mridha and Alamgir Khan in serial drives on October 17 and 25. Police also seized a microbus from their possession used for snatching and robbery.
Detective Branch under Gulshan Zone ADC SM Rezaul Haque, who led the drives, said they have informed about the Gantabya Party from the arrested three muggers which came from the case of Khilkhet Police Station. They disclosed other names of the gang. Drive is underway to catch them.
According to the highway police, six cases were filed across the country for dacoity on the highways. Police so far arrested 40 muggers in the cases.
@ The article was published on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on November 4, 2022 and has been rewritten in English by Golam Rosul.
