Dealing with members of 'aggyan' and 'malam' gangs
Sunday, 30 September 2007
WITH the holy Eid-ul-fitr, one of the most important religious festivals of Muslims, nearing, the Dhaka city is buzzing with business activities as usual. Eid-shoppers are crowding the streets and marketplaces much to the delight of the traders. But this particular time of the year is also an opportunity for an evil band of people called street muggers who scale up their operations to snatch money and valuables at gun-point from people on the streets, particularly after dawn. The muggers at times do not hesitate to take lives of innocent people while committing their nefarious activities.
This year the authorities concerned have deployed a large number of law enforcers, including the members of the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in and around shopping centres and important markets in Dhaka city. Yet the members of the so-called 'aggyan' and 'malam' parties and pick-pockets have been successfully carrying out their operations without much resistance from the law-enforcers, primarily in posh areas of Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Dhanmondi. At least three persons, including a teacher of the North South University NSU, were killed by the members of the 'malam' and 'aggyan' gangs in Dhaka city last week. The members of the 'malam' party, who with the help of the drivers intercept CNG auto-rickshaws and taxicabs after dusk, rub balms mixed with red-chilly powder on the eyes of the victims and start beating them mercilessly. The first thing the criminals do is that they grab the throat of the victims with full force so that the latter cannot raise alarm to draw the attention of the people nearby. Sometimes victims are suffocated to death in the process.
The operational areas of the 'aggyan' parties are different from that of 'malam' parties. The former are found active at inter-district bus terminals, Kamalapur railway station, Sadarghat IWTA terminal and other crowded places. The modus operandi of the gang members is entirely different from the 'malam' operators. Once the victim is targeted, the operator uses all the art to be friendly and win his trust and confidence so that he cannot refuse a food item or a drink mixed with strong sedatives or other toxic materials. While the victims of aggayan parties are unsuspecting people coming to Dhaka from outside districts and drivers of CNG auto rickshaws and cabs, the 'malam' gang members target the officials of big corporate houses and others visiting posh areas after dusk.
The operatives of the two gangs have been active for a long time. The law enforcers except for occasional arrests of one or two criminals belonging to these gangs have, apparently, done nothing to contain the menace. It might prove a bit difficult for the police to get rid of the members of the 'aggyan' party entirely because of their wider area of operation but nabbing the members of 'malam' party who operate mainly in Gulshan zone should not be that difficult. It is understood that the police in Gulshan area has now strengthened their patrols and the detective police are roaming the Gulshan-Baridhara-Banani streets following the death of the NSU teacher. The 'malam' party members would suspend their operations for some days, naturally. But they, in probability, would be back on the streets soon and start stalking their victims coming out of their offices or shopping centres lighted exquisitely on the occasion of Eid-festival.
This year the authorities concerned have deployed a large number of law enforcers, including the members of the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in and around shopping centres and important markets in Dhaka city. Yet the members of the so-called 'aggyan' and 'malam' parties and pick-pockets have been successfully carrying out their operations without much resistance from the law-enforcers, primarily in posh areas of Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Dhanmondi. At least three persons, including a teacher of the North South University NSU, were killed by the members of the 'malam' and 'aggyan' gangs in Dhaka city last week. The members of the 'malam' party, who with the help of the drivers intercept CNG auto-rickshaws and taxicabs after dusk, rub balms mixed with red-chilly powder on the eyes of the victims and start beating them mercilessly. The first thing the criminals do is that they grab the throat of the victims with full force so that the latter cannot raise alarm to draw the attention of the people nearby. Sometimes victims are suffocated to death in the process.
The operational areas of the 'aggyan' parties are different from that of 'malam' parties. The former are found active at inter-district bus terminals, Kamalapur railway station, Sadarghat IWTA terminal and other crowded places. The modus operandi of the gang members is entirely different from the 'malam' operators. Once the victim is targeted, the operator uses all the art to be friendly and win his trust and confidence so that he cannot refuse a food item or a drink mixed with strong sedatives or other toxic materials. While the victims of aggayan parties are unsuspecting people coming to Dhaka from outside districts and drivers of CNG auto rickshaws and cabs, the 'malam' gang members target the officials of big corporate houses and others visiting posh areas after dusk.
The operatives of the two gangs have been active for a long time. The law enforcers except for occasional arrests of one or two criminals belonging to these gangs have, apparently, done nothing to contain the menace. It might prove a bit difficult for the police to get rid of the members of the 'aggyan' party entirely because of their wider area of operation but nabbing the members of 'malam' party who operate mainly in Gulshan zone should not be that difficult. It is understood that the police in Gulshan area has now strengthened their patrols and the detective police are roaming the Gulshan-Baridhara-Banani streets following the death of the NSU teacher. The 'malam' party members would suspend their operations for some days, naturally. But they, in probability, would be back on the streets soon and start stalking their victims coming out of their offices or shopping centres lighted exquisitely on the occasion of Eid-festival.