Mugging on rise in city

Increasing activities by gangs of muggers over the last few weeks have created panic among the city dwellers.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has launched a crackdown on Tuesday night in the wake of an alarming rise in the crime rate.
The DMP police arrested a total of 136 muggers in the last three days.
At the same time, members of 'Agyan Party' or 'Molom Party', who rob people after drugging their victims, have become active again.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) sources said around 12 to 15 people, who fell victim to Agyan Party members, were admitted to the hospital a day last week, while the number was six to eight a month ago.
On Monday, a total of 19 people were brought to DMCH in an unconscious state. They were mostly the victims of Agyan Party, sources added.
Intelligence sources said several hundred incidents of snatchings, including thefts and muggings, occur in the city every day, adding that most of the petty incidents of snatchings are not reported to the concerned police stations.
Expressing concern over the situation, DMP Commissioner Naim Ahmed said the number of reported crimes, including the activities of agyan party and snatchings, is increasing at an alarming rate during last few days.
The commissioner passed an order to all police stations, Detective Branch (DB) of police and other police wings to launch a special drive to nab the criminals.
As per the instruction, over 3,000 policemen were engaged in the drive in the DMP area, said Masudur Rahman, DMP additional deputy commissioner (media and community service).
During the last three days, a total of 136 snatchers were arrested and firearms and lethal weapons were seized from the snatchers, he added.
He also said most of the snatchers were caught red-handed or while they were making preparations to commit the crimes.
DMP officials said they over 434 spots have been marked as snatching-prone areas across the city and DMP police conducted a massive drive adopting unique techniques on the spots.
Police said snatchers have recently changed their styles in committing crimes as they use motor vehicles and pocket-size knives instead of firearms.
Just after the incidents, they hurriedly change their places so that concerned police stations could take no action against them, they added.
On Thursday night, snatchers shot a policeman and two others as they tried to resist the criminals while snatching a pedestrian in the city's Ashkona area under Dakkhin Khan Police Station.
Naim Ahmed said as juvenile crimes are on the rise in the city that involve around 700 youths, it causes a grave concern in this respect.