Muggers trigger fear ahead of Eid

Muggers have now gained notoriety mainly on the highways, spreading terror especially among sacrificial cattle traders.
The recently committed crimes appear to challenge the announcements by the Home Minister and ranking law enforcement officials that they have taken all-out security measures ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
On Saturday, 15 sacrificial cattle were snatched on the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway at Shreenagar in Munshiganj and the Dhaka-Chattogram highway at Rampur in Feni.
A mugger stabbed Emon Acharya, a member of Rapid Action Battalion-9 (RAB), to death in Sylhet city on Friday.
In the incident that took place at Bejgaon in Shreenagar of Munshiganj, a group of muggers hijacked a truck laden with five sacrificial cattle heading towards Dohar in Dhaka from Faridpur, leaving the cattle owners – Helal Uddin, Zahirul Haque and driver Md Tayyab – seriously injured by beating at about 3:15am, said Milton Datta, inspector (investigation) of Shreenagar Police Station.
Milton said that they are conducting drives to capture the criminals and recover the cattle and the truck.
In Feni, 10 cattle were mugged from the Dhaka-Chittagong highway after the owner-cum-seasonal trader Delwar Hossain was held hostage at gunpoint at around 4am.
The incident occurred adjacent to the Rampur RAB camp.

“Four men equipped with sharp weapons and firearms surrounded me. They held me at gunpoint and snatched my cows,” said Delwar.
Feni Model Police Station’s Officer-in-Charge (OC) Gazi Muhammad Fouzul Azim said that they are investigating the matter.
When contacted, chief of Highway Police Delwar Hossain Mia, also additional inspector general of police, told the Daily Sun that they are highly alert.
He termed the recent mugging incidents on the highways as isolated ones.
“The incidents of mugging and robbery are much lower this year compared to previous years. We are closely monitoring the isolated mugging and robbery incidents.”
Although no countrywide data on the number of muggers could be obtained, there are around 1,000 such criminals in the capital, according to the list of an intelligence agency.
Two years back, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) made a list of 1,737 snatchers with about 432 mugging hot spots marked.
The Crime Statistics table has mentioned cases on crime categories — dacoity, robbery, murder, theft, burglary and others, but there is no “category” of mugging or snatching.
Admitting the fact, Assistant Inspector General AHM Shahadat Hossain told the Daily Sun that there is no specific category for mugging. “I do not know in which category the mugging or snatching cases are included,” he said.
He added they are continuously conducting drives against muggers.

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Barrister Mahfujul Alam Russell, superintendent of police at the Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) of police, said that the Penal Code’s Sections 385, 386 and 387 mention the offences and punishment for mugging or snatching.
On 12 May, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed from his ministry announced a comprehensive nationwide security and monitoring plan ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, focusing on safe travel, prevention of extortion, cattle market security, fair prices for sacrificial animal hides, and uninterrupted public services.
Later, the chiefs of the Police Department and RAB assured all-out security measures.