Although it has been quiet for a few days, Mohammadpur in the capital has once again become unstable with a series of robberies, murders, and weapons training. After seven members of the same family were hacked to injure in front of the house, a youth hacked to death and a youth was beaten to death on suspicion of being a robber, the panic is prevailing in the entire area.
Locals said that although peace has returned after the killing of two kidnappers in a joint force operation, now several criminal and teen gangs have emerged again under different names. Therefore, even though some have been arrested in the police operation, they are not being suppressed.
On the night of May 14, two youths were roaming suspiciously in the Mohammadpur Jafrabad area. A local youth named Rabbi asked about roaming suspiciously. That time they altercating each other. Later, 12 to 15 men armed with machetes attacked him. When Rabbi's family came forward, members of the gang of teenagers also attacked them. Six members of the same family were injured in the incident.
A video of it went viral on social media. Discussion and criticism ensued. Questions were raised about the role of the police.
Injured Rabbi's cousin Ripon claimed that the attackers were members of the 'Patali group'. He said that Patali Hasan, the main leader of the Patali group, and Farma Alamgir, Sohel, Ibrahim Nasir and Shakil, along with a few others, were involved in the attack. They are the ones who commit all the robberies, thefts and robberies in the capital's Dhanmondi and Mohammadpur area.
Nasir, a Chhatra League cadre, who fled from Barishal after the August 5 changeover, is an active member in the Patali Group. He had been maintaining a good link with Jahangir Kabir Nanok.
He also took part in the robbery at the residence of MA Hannan Azad, owner of Alankar Niketan Jewelers in Dhanmondi. But police yet to nab him, sources said.
Nasir is now hiding at a residence of Basila's City Developers Housing area.
Meanwhile, On May 16, a young man named Rakib Hossain, 21, was beaten to death by a suspected hijacker in the City Housing area of Mohammadpur. Rakib's associate Milan Hossain, 38, was injured in the beating. A machete has been recovered from them.
Regarding the increase in criminal and teen gangs or mugging in Mohammadpur, Mohammadpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Ali Iftekhar Hossain told The Daily Observer that Mohammadpur is a densely populated area and there are many people from outside the area, so it is prone to crime. However, due to our operations, crime is under control here.
The OC also said that 1,732 were arrested in the four months from last year November to this year February. On an average of 433 arrested per month. These accused have been out on bail for the past few days and have been involved in crime again.
On the night of May 17, a young man named Nur Islam, 26, was hacked to death in front of everyone in the Durga Mandir Goli area of Mohammadpur and his bag was snatched away.
Hazaribagh Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Saiful Islam told The Observer that they have been able to arrest everyone in this incident. This incident happened because they stole Nur Islam's camera.
Not only these incidents, but also various types of crimes committed by juvenile gangs in Mohammadpur at different times have created fear among the people of that area. People in that area are afraid to go out on the streets after evening.
Mohammadpur residents complained that after August 5, due to police inaction, there were incidents of mass robberies on the streets of Mohammadpur with sharp weapons. It is alleged that these were being carried out by members of this teen gang. Since then, these groups have been reckless. When law enforcement forces arrest them in raids, they remain quiet for a few days. Later, they become reckless again.
According to local sources, there are 13 to 15 active teenage gangs in the capital's Mohammadpur and Adabor areas including the Patali Group, Anwar Group, Alamgir and Nabi Group, Dailla Group, Alex Group, Lara De Group, Akbar Group, Gangchil Group, Law Thela Group, Ashraf Group, Miraj Group, Sumon Group and Forma Sajeeb Group.
The issue of teen gangs came to the attention of everyone with the murder of 10th grade student Adnan Kabir in 2017. The name of the teen gang 'Zero Zero Seven' came to the fore in the murder of Rifat Sharif in Barguna in 2019. Since then, the prevalence of teen gangs has been observed across the country. Earlier, juvenile crime was limited to 25-30 teenagers roaming around together, harassing girls for heroism, and extortion. Ever since they have been involved in drug trafficking and murder, there has been a fear of teen gangs in society.
Although the violence of teen gangs in Bangladesh began around 1990, there are no accurate statistics. However, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the number of teen gangs was 237 in 2024. The number of members of these gangs was at least 2,382 members. The number of teen gangs was 173 in 2022, with a membership of about 1,000.
Those concerned said that gangs and teenage gangs have existed in Western countries for a long time. Teenagers in Bangladesh adopted this foreign gang culture a few decades ago. Gradually, teenage gang members became terrorists. Gangs became involved in conflicts, internal conflicts, extortion, establishing control over the area, and drug syndicates. Although initially cantered in Dhaka, gang culture later spread to various divisions and district towns of the country.
They believe that juvenile crime is increasing due to poverty. In addition, they believe that children get involved in crime due to family problems, broken families, bad company, watching pornography and action movies, and being subjected to abuse.
According to police sources, after the attack on six members of the same family and the murder of a photograph at the Durga Mandir, joint forces conducted a raid and arrested 44 people, including Shahin, the top terrorist of the notorious 'Patali Group', on the night of May 18. The arrested people also include professional drug dealers, robbers, warrant-bound suspects and criminals involved in various crimes.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (Media) Muhammad Talebur Rahman told The Daily Observer, "In the recent incidents, we have brought to law criminals. We had a series of operations before. We have continued that operation to arrest the criminals. We hope that this will be brought under control soon."
