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A house owner of the area told this correspondent that Alamgir, son of another resident name Siraj, banged on the main entrance.

“When I opened the gate, they [Alamgir and others] held a machete to my throat and demanded Tk 5 lakh.” He said, adding that they also beat him up.

“At one point, the attackers took cash worth Tk 2 lakh, including Saudi riyals.”

Alamgir and the rest fled the scene on motorbikes later, witnesses said.

Imran Hossain, a security guard of a house in Bashbari, said some young people were moving around the neighbourhood on a truck, while several others were on motorbikes.

Meanwhile, locals, mostly students, in Mohammadpur and Shyamoli areas, have formed groups to stay vigilant in their respective neighborhoods.

Last night, a group of residents was seen in Shyamoli Housing area, ready to alert others if any threats were detected, encouraging neighbours to band together and confront miscreants.

Apart from Mohammadpur, such incidents of robberies have also been reported from other areas of the capital, including Jatrabari, Demra, Badda, Rampura and Vatara.

Mahbubur Rahman, a resident on Hashem Khan Road in Rayerbazar and a trader by profession, said they usually leave for home late into the night but their house owner has demanded that everyone be back by 10:00pm due to the ongoing situation.

“Around 11:00-12:00 at night, multiple groups roam around the area to commit robbery and looting, taking advantage of the absence of law enforcers on the streets. This has been going on for the last two days. Who are we supposed to go to for help?”

People have also reported that shops were broken into and looted. They are in fear that such incidents will increase if police stations are not operational soon.

With stations unmanned and arms and ammunition looted from many, a grave sense of insecurity has been prevailing in the capital and elsewhere.

Speaking to The Daily Star last night, Indrajit Barua, a resident of Mohammadpur’s Jafrabad, said a group of at least 15 teenagers armed with sharp weapons attacked his neighbouring house in Ityadi Mor around 10:00pm.

An army team later arrived and apprehended some of them, he said.

“There were so many screams we heard during the attack. We were so scared, we switched off the lights in our house and stayed inside.”

Like Tuesday, locals of Mohammadpur around 11:00pm last night began alerting residents through loudspeakers from mosques to potential attacks. Similar loudspeaker alerts were reported in Dhanmondi, Uttara, Shekertek and Adabor last night.

Masum Basher, actor and resident of Dhanmondi 13/A near the the 32no bridge, said, “There is a group of around 100 civilians mobilised from the nearby Taqwa Masjid. They are stationed at different parts of Dhanmondi trying to provide security.”

Mahmuda Dipa, resident of Arshinagar in the capital’s Bosila, around 1:00am early today told The Daily Star that an announcement was made last evening regarding possible attacks. “Around 11:00pm, some locals reported an attack and by 12:50pm, residents of all surrounding buildings gathered and chased the miscreants away.”

According to a video footage on social media, the army detained one person with sharp weapons from that area.

In Mirpur’s ECB Chattar, witnesses said that around 11:45pm a group of over 100 people carrying sharp weapons and firearms came there. At that time, locals called upon the army, who detained some of the attackers. Gunshots were heard during that time.

In the wave of violent mob attacks since Sheikh Hasina’s fall on Monday, many police stations have been vandalised and set ablaze.

Amid this spate of criminal activities, the army yesterday requested the citizens to contact the nearest army camps in emergency, said a press release issued by the Inter Services Public Relations Directorate.

It said the army will remain deployed to ensure the safety of the public, property and important government installations.

People were, however, requested to refrain from misleading the army with false information and rumours.

The ISPR also provided some mobile phone numbers of designate army control rooms.