Rising incidents of mugging and extortion

The incidents of mugging and extortion have increased alarmingly in Dhaka city and its adjoining areas in recent days. The criminals, in the absence of necessary action on the part of the law enforcers, are virtually ruling the streets of Dhaka, particularly after dusk. A newspaper report quoting records of the country's largest public sector health facility, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said 37 victims of 'aggyan party' (gangs of muggers who manage their targets to consume food laced with powerful sedatives before decamping with the valuables of the latter) were admitted during the last 18 days. The number of victims of the organized gangs such as 'aggyan party', 'malam party' and small groups of muggers and snatchers must have been several times more than what the official statistics show. There are reported as well as unreported incidents. Most victims avoid reporting to the police for understandable reasons and the metropolitan police stations are also not that much willing to record the incidents of mugging and extortion as the rise in such crimes in their respective areas draws flack from the higher authorities.
The criminals of all sorts, particularly muggers and extortionists, have intensified their activities ahead of the holy Eid festival. Muggers, generally, start stalking the pedestrians and rickshaw and auto-rickshaw passengers soon after the dusk. Yet incidents of mugging and snatching in board daylight have been on the rise since the start of the holy month of Ramadan. The victims of such incidents, in most cases, involve the use of firearms by the criminals to create panic among the victims as well as the people watching the crime. Similarly, incidents of extortions by new as well as old criminal gangs of various localities of Dhaka city are enjoying almost a freehand. Starting from traders of kitchen markets down to house owners, the targets are chosen at absolute freedom by the extortionists who usually demand various amounts of 'many', along with threats of dire consequences if the demands were not fulfilled. The transport sector, which is one of the most favourite areas, fetches a hefty amount to the extortionists who are often found to use their ruling party links.
The media and experts taking into cognizance the prevailing law and order situation in the country had forewarned that incidents of mugging and extortion would rise during Ramadan. The home ministry and the DMP chief had assured all concerned of doing everything possible to arrest any spurt of such criminal acts. But the rise in crime incidents, actually, does not anyway corroborate such assurance. The DMP, however, might come up with statistics of crime incidents recorded with the police stations under its control to substantiate that there has been an 'improvement' in the crime situation. But the real-life experience of the citizens does not match with such statistics. The DMP authorities might also cite reasons such as manpower shortage, lack of transport facilities etc., for their failure to cope with the rising incidents of crime. But the fact remains that the situation during the month of Ramadan last year was very much different from the one that prevails now. The incidents of crime were far less and people did not suffer from that much of insecurity. If it was then possible on the part of the law enforcers to rein in the crime and criminals to a certain extent then, why should it not be so now? The home ministry does need to use all options to contain the rising incidents of crime without further delay. Otherwise, the ministry might soon find itself in deep trouble.