57 ‘members’ of teen gangs held in Dhaka, Savar

The Rapid Action Battalion claimed to have arrested 57 suspected members of teen gangs from Dhaka and Savar areas.

Of them, the Rab-2 arrested 36 teen gang members from Mohammadpur, Adabar and Hazaribagh areas in the capital on Friday, said Rab-2 Commanding Officer Additional DIG Md Anwar Hossain.

Among them, five are from "Patali" and "Lou Thyala" groups each, six from "Level High" and "Chan" groups each, seven from "Maura Imran" group and remaining seven are members of other groups.

During the raid, local weapons including machetes and knives were seized from them.

The Rab official said that the "Patali group" has been operating for a long time under the leadership of Sujan Mia alias Forma Sajib. Now they are divided into two-three groups due to infighting among themselves. The "Level High" group is led by Sharif alias Mohan.

They used to carry out extortion, robbery and other criminal activities in Mohammadpur, Adabar, Beribandh and Dhaka Udyan areas, he added.

Meanwhile, the Rab-4 arrested 21 members of teen gangs from Mirpur, Darussalam and Savar. They are from "Langra Nuru", "Potato Rubel" and "King Shaon" groups, said Rab-4 CO Lt Col Mohammad Abdur Rahman.

Teen gangs in the capital first made headlines in 2017, after 14-year-old student Adnan Kabir was beaten to death in Uttara.

Since then, Rab has arrested a total of 1,126 teen gang members in the last six years. Of them, 349 were arrested last year across the country, according to Rab.