Extortion, land grabbing and mugging remain rampant in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh despite repeated government warnings, police crackdowns and the preparation of lists identifying thousands of suspected criminals.
Businesses face demands for extortion money, construction projects have been forced to shut down and even fish farmers and buffalo herders are being targeted. Criminals are allegedly displaying weapons to intimidate victims and demanding money for running businesses, purchasing land and constructing buildings.
Police and intelligence agencies have launched coordinated operations based on area-wise lists of extortionists, muggers and drug dealers, but the crimes show little sign of declining.
In Gazipur, armed muggers shot an employee of a bKash agent establishment and snatched Tk3 crore, while in Khulna a police inspector was seriously injured in a mugging attack, prompting district police to advise personnel against travelling alone at night.
Attacks, vandalism and looting at Radda Clinic in Mirpur and New Guinea Properties’ housing project at ECB Chattar under Cantonment Police Station have also raised questions about the overall law-and-order situation.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the government had adopted a zero-tolerance policy against extortion, terrorism and land grabbing.
Law enforcement agencies have been instructed to take the strictest possible action against offenders, with separate lists being prepared for those supporting extortion and police personnel involved in such activities, he said.
Inspector General of Police Md Ali Hossain Fakir has also issued similar instructions.
Special Response Battalion (SRB) Director General Md Ahsan Habib Palash told TIMES that police, the SRB and intelligence agencies had jointly prepared lists of suspected criminals.
“Names are regularly being added, while others are removed following verification,” he said, adding that the lists covered extortionists, drug dealers, muggers and other criminals.
Separate operations are being conducted against those identified.
Thousands on police lists
According to a Police Headquarters source, law enforcement agencies have listed 3,586 extortionists, 2,258 notorious criminals and 534 muggers nationwide.
Narayanganj and Chattogram account for nearly 30 per cent of the listed extortionists.
Police Headquarters recorded 467 incidents of mugging and extortion between July and September, although the actual number of victims is believed to be more than double the recorded figure.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) have separately identified 1,280 active extortionists in the capital, including 148 armed professional criminals.
Many suspects have been arrested, while police have intensified intelligence operations to apprehend others who frequently change locations.
Police Headquarters spokesperson AIG Kamarum Munira told TIMES that police had stepped up patrols and were conducting searches at checkpoints in the capital and elsewhere across the country to prevent mugging and extortion.
She said plainclothes surveillance had also been intensified to arrest those involved in such crimes.
Yet former police officials and crime experts question why criminal activities continue despite the lists and raids.
Former inspector general of police Muhammad Nurul Huda told TIMES that shortcomings in operations were allowing criminals to escape.
Information about planned raids and suspect lists was being leaked beforehand, enabling criminals to evade arrest, he said.
He also cited political patronage and sabotage as factors helping offenders avoid law enforcement.
Omar Faruk, a professor of criminology and police science at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, said preparing lists alone would not curb crime.
He called for identifying the reasons behind persistent criminal activities, changing operational strategies and involving communities in crime prevention.
Former DMP commissioner Sheikh Md Sajjat Ali said police were trying to regain their footing following the formation of the new government, but controlling these crimes would take time.
Extortion halts construction
In Uttara, residents of the Rajuk Uttara Apartment Project formed a human chain on Friday, protesting alleged illegal occupation, drug dealing and extortion.
Retired government official Md Jahangir Alam said residents wanted freedom from extortion and land grabbing.
In Mirpur’s Rupnagar, construction of a building on a four-katha plot has remained suspended after repeated extortion demands.
Plot co-owner Modachher Hossain said different individuals from the same group repeatedly demanded Tk5 lakh after piling work began four months ago.
Unable to withstand the pressure, he stopped construction.
Abdul Mannan, chairman of Daffodil Homes Company Limited, faced similar demands while constructing a 10-storey building in Extended Rupnagar.
After completing four floors, he suspended work following demands for Tk10 lakh.
Mannan said extortion demands began during earth excavation. Even after filing a case, he did not feel reassured enough to resume construction.
Md Tawhidul Islam Talukder, vice-president of the local Plot/Flat/House Owners’ Welfare Association, said extortion money had been demanded from nearly 50 buildings.
On 4 October, a group of youths armed with machetes and sticks vandalised and looted the office of Afsana Housing in Arshinagar, Keraniganj.
CCTV footage showed attackers removing sofas, air conditioners, televisions and other furniture and loading them onto a pickup van.
Company manager Md Nasir alleged that property worth around Tk1 crore was looted after the company refused to pay Tk40 lakh.
Owner Sajib Bepari subsequently filed a case with Keraniganj Model Police Station, naming 16 people.
Extortion has also spread to agricultural activities.
In Khetlal, Joypurhat, fish farmer Hasan Ali faced a demand for Tk4 lakh. At least 13 people were injured in a clash on 8 September after he refused to pay.
Hasan alleged that attackers also targeted a pickup van carrying fish.
In Lalchar under Chandradwip Union of Patuakhali’s Bauphal upazila, buffalo owners allegedly pay Tk200 per animal every month for grazing on government khas land.
The collections, allegedly led by former Chhatra Dal leader Mainuddin, total approximately Tk95,600 monthly from 478 buffaloes.
Armed muggings continue
In Gazipur’s Sreepur, muggers riding 10 to 12 motorcycles intercepted a private car carrying employees of a bKash agent establishment on the Sreepur-Gosinga road on Friday evening.
The attackers opened fire, injuring an accounts officer, and escaped with Tk3 crore. The driver and area manager were also injured.
No arrests had been reported by Saturday evening.
In Khulna, police inspector Shah Alam, 43, was seriously injured on Thursday when three unidentified attackers hacked him with machetes while he was travelling in a rickshaw near Collegiate School.
The attackers took his money and mobile phone.
He was transferred through several hospitals, including Khulna Medical College Hospital, Rajarbagh Police Hospital, the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation, before being admitted to Evercare Hospital.
Khulna Superintendent of Police Sardar Omar Faruk confirmed the incident.
On Thursday night, criminals stopped an SA Paribahan covered van near Shibrampur Bazar on the Faridpur-Rajbari road, assaulted driver Tuhin Sheikh and snatched Tk25,500.
The seriously injured driver is receiving treatment at Faridpur Medical College Hospital.
In another incident, criminals posing as Rapid Action Battalion personnel snatched Tk26 lakh on the Dhaka-Aricha highway at Hemayetpur in Savar.
Detective Branch police subsequently arrested three suspects from Madaripur.
