Prowling at night to rob ride-seekers
6 held in N’ganj after video clip of 2 men being thrown out of vehicle went viral
Vegetable traders -- Apan Mia and Nazrul Islam -- were waiting near the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on the night of December 28 last year for a vehicle to go to Karwan Bazar when a pick-up van stopped in front of them.
They boarded the vehicle.
But as the van started moving, those who took in Apan and Nazrul mugged the duo and threw them off the running van, according to police.
Apan died on the road, while Nazrul sustained injuries.
The horrifying incident was captured by a CCTV camera installed near Kawla area. Detectives later arrested six men in Narayanganj's Rupganj area on Tuesday night, said AKM Hafiz Akhter, additional commissioner (detectives) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
A case was filed in this regard with the Airport Police Station after the incident, police said.
They arrestees are Sajal, Musa, Bachchu, Sajib, Munna and Siddque.
Speaking at a press conference at DMP media centre yesterday, the DB official said the arrestees are members of an organised group of robbers, who set out in the middle of the night with a pick-up van to rob unsuspecting people seeking rides.
Whenever anyone boarded the vehicle, they robbed the passengers of cash and other valuables and threw them off the running van, police said.
Their targets are usually low-income traders who head towards wholesale kitchen markets in Dhaka late at night, the DB official added.
The arrestees, during primary interrogation, admitted that they robbed people on the road -- Abdullahpur to Karwan Bazar, Rampura to Jatrabari, and Bhulta Gausia area.
According to detectives, the gang had been robbing people in this manner more than once a week.
Two to three people used to sit in the front seat of the vehicle while the rest used to pose as passengers in the rear, police said quoting the arrestees.