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Cases of mugging by doping finally on the decline

Ci n Correspondent
Law enforcers claim that the activities of "agyan and malom parties" -- gangs of muggers who rob their victims after doping them with drug-tainted food or putting irritating balm in their eyes -- in the streets of Dhaka has declined recently.
The capturing of a good number of muggers, ringleaders and their godfathers has resulted in the downward trend of the activities of the agyan and malom parties, believe officials of law enforcement agencies.
"Their [agyan and malom party! activities have been on the decline lately. The situation is pretty much under control now," said Mohammad Asaduzzaman, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and in-charge of the team specialising in tracing the agyan and malom party members.
"We managed to capture more than 150 members of the agyan and malom party since May this year. A number of godfathers and leaders [of the ring] have been apprehended and a huge quantity of drugs that are used by the muggers has been impounded," he said.
Sources at the DMP claimed that the number of people falling victims to the agyan or malom parties each day has come down to one or two a day -- down from 10 to 12 daily a couple of months
earlier.
According to the sources, around 45 victims were treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) during the first 20 days of December last year, prior to the Eid-ul-Azha. In October, the number of victims treated at the same hospital was around 80.
"We receive daily reports from the DMCH on the number of victims they admit. There have been no reports of victims over the past three days. They reported admitting two victims today," said a police official on Sunday.
A Source at Ramna Division of DMP told this correspondent that 10 cases of muggings were reported in five police stations under the division in December -- a figure that is quite low in contrast with 18 cases of muggings reported in October.
However striking the statistics may seem, these in fact represent only a small slice of the whole pie
as the actual numbers of victims and mugging incidents are much higher, law enforcers admitted saying that most such incidents go unreported.
On an average, only around ten percent of the incidents are reported to the authorities and mugging is rampant in most public places, said the law enforcers.
Paresh Das, a business owner, was mugged during the first week of December when he was stuck at a traffic signal late in the evening.
After a long and tiring day, an exhausted Dash could not resist the temptation of having the orange juice offered by the passenger sitting right next to him. After having the drink, the next thing he remembers is waking up in the emergency section of the DMCH.
In a similar fashion, another five victims landed at DMCH on December 20 as they fell uncon-
scious after having drug-tainted food that they received or purchased from CNG autorickshaw drivers and vendors selling green coconut and pickles.
According to law enforcers, these are just a few forms of deceptive methods used by the agyan party members. Well-integrated into the crowd, posing to be pedestrians, commuters, food vendors, transport workers or even taxi drivers, these muggers are on the prowl for their targets across the entire city. They are especially active in crowded public places such as airports, railway stations and bus terminals.
Zia International Airport, Kamalapaur Rail Terminal, bus terminals at Gabtoli, Sayedabad and Mohakhali; and numerous other places throughout the city including Farmgate, Gulistan, Shyamoli, Mohammadpur Town Hall, Shonir Akhra, and Demra are the favourite workplaces of
these muggers.
Fresh visitors arriving from abroad or from outside the city are usually favourite targets of these muggers because these visitors are not used to being watchful of such muggers and they usually carry larger amounts of money and other valuable possessions with them.
Disguised as fellow pedestrians or food vendors, these muggers gain the trust of their prey by mingling with them through small talks. The muggers later raid their victims' belongings after sedating them by having them eat foodstuff contaminated with sedative drugs such as 'Rohypnol' or Roofies' and tablets named Etibem.
According to experts, these drugs contain a higher ratio of alcohol than in most other drugs available easily. These drugs can easily be added to the food items without the victim's knowledge and the victim does not even taste the difference while having the tainted food or drink. Large doses of this drug applied on a person can sedate the person and can even cause memory loss of the person.
"We have a group of specialised police officers dedicated entirely to hunt down these specific muggers," said ADC Asaduzzaman of the DB. "We have already apprehended a lot of suspects. We are on the right track and hopefully things will be even better in the future."