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300 groups of muggers in city active at 500 spots

Kailash Sarkar
More than 300 groups of muggers have been using around 500 spots in areas under 33 police stations across the capital to mug people with new techniques everyday, according to a Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) research.
DMP already identified 434 of those spots and declared the areas of Sutrapur, Jatrabari, Pallabi, Ramna, Tejgaon, Uttara, and Dhanmondi as the most affected.
The police department also termed mugging as one of the major problems faced by the city residents as well as law enforcers.
On July 29, a night time rickshaw ride of a private university teacher, from Gabtoli to Shahbagh, had him
mugged thrice within a span of 40 minutes.
Like him, hundreds of other city residents arc being mugged everyday all over the city.
DMP sources said more than 1,500 uniformed and plainclothes police, drawn from city police stations, the Detective Branch (DB), and from Rajarbagh Police Line based Public Order Management and Special Armed Force units, already have been involved in special drives against mugging i n the city since May.
DMP Commissioner Naim Ahmed told The Daily Star yesterday, "In addition to regular patrols, every police station was directed to form at least three motorbike units for patrolling die streets, which has
already started this month, they have also been directed to use firearms if required, in line with the laws."
The DMP commissioner said according to the number of cases filed with police, around 100 muggings take place in the city each month.
But in reality the number is much higher, as most of the victims do not report the incidents to the police while many others just file general diaries only stating that they lost their valuables, in order to ward off legal hassles, he added.
The DMP commissioner said he prepared a 29-point guideline for his force to follow in prevention of mugging, which was distributed among the personnel. A recent DMP research led by the DMP commissioner reveals that in the area under Sutrapur police station a total of 39 spots are used by muggers for committing the crime.
There are 24 such spots under Ramna station, 15 under Dhanmondi station, 14 under Shahbagh, 7 under New Market, 11 under Hazaribagh, 11 under Lalbagh, 8 under Kotwali, 4 under Kamrangirchar, 13 under Motijheel, 14 under Paltan, 12 under Sabujbagh, 15 under Khilgaon, 23 under Tejgaon, 10 under Tejgaon Industrial Area, 24 under Mohammadpur, 12 under Adabar, 13 under Mirpur, 9 under Shah Ali, 13 under Kafrul, 27 under Pallabi, 13 under Gulshan, 8 under Badda, 6 under Khilkhet, 4 under Cantonment, 25 under Uttara, 6 under Turag, 11 under Dakkhinkhan, 4 under Uttarkhan, 6 under Airport. 6 under Demra, 31 under Jatrabari, and 6 under Shyampur police stations.
The DMP commissioner, however, said in addition to the identified 434 spots, muggers also use several other places where they feel comfortable mugging.
According to the police department, they also identified around 300 gangs of muggers comprising 1,200 operatives.
The law enforcers classified the muggers into two groups, professionals and drugaddicts.
Professional snatchers also fall
into two categories, one using firearms and the other using sedatives or ointments to make their victims unconscious or to render them temporarily blind.
Use of ointments and sedatives or other substances for making victims senseless or blind are rather newer techniques for mugging. The muggers also use various tricks to lure their targets into traps.
Intelligence sources said there are over 40 gangs, who put rubbing balm in their targets' eyes, or mix sedatives with foods or drinks to debilitate a target. They mainly choose transport terminals, bus stops, and public transports as their places of operations.
According to DMP, the muggers are most active between the hours of 4:00am and 6:00am. 9:00am and 1:00pm, and between 11:00pm and 4:00am, when they often use motorcycles, private cars, taxis, and CNG-run three-wheelers to mug their victims.