Over 100 criminal gangs active in city

Those groups, through negotiations, have allocated the areas among themselves and are committing various crimes such as murder, extortion, drug peddling, robbery, mugging, kidnapping, burglary, forgery, pickpocketing, car lifting, and rape, they said.

There are allegations that local godfathers run drug trade in the city with the support of some "unscrupulous members in the law-enforcing agencies, political persons and even also with the support of a few ward commissioners", said the sources on the basis of intelligence work.

The operatives in the criminal gangland choose some convenient places and propitious time to conduct their swoops. Some of the places are identified as Banga Bhaban Park Road, Taxi Stand opposite to Sergeant Ahad Police Box, Joy Kali Mondir Road, Crossing between Joykali Mondir Road and Kaptan Bazar Road, Baldha Garden, Wari Community Centre area, Nandalal Lane, Bahadur Shah Park area, Dholaikhal-Narinda Crossing, Alobazar Primary School area and Lion Cinema Hall areas.

They choose a particular time between 5:00am and 9:00am and 5:00pm and 11:00pm for the crime. Pedestrians and people travelling by rickshaws or motor vehicles frequently fall victim of muggers.

According to the sources, the muggers prefer such time as traders use these points to move between their business establishments and other points such as banks and government offices. And, maybe, the law- enforcing agencies do not keep close watch on those points in these periods of time.

On the other hand, each of the criminal groups comprising 20 to 60 members has one godfather--sometimes more than one--who are said to have close liaison with different political parties.

Some of these rackets have sub-groups known as killer group comprising 5 to 10 members, who conduct killing mission under the direction of the respective godfather.

"Young boys aged 15 to 25 are usually the members of the killing squad. Sometimes, they act as hired goons to carry out the killing missions," a competent source said.

Godfathers themselves take part only in the big killing missions. Killer groups charge Tk 15,000 to Tk 50,000 for a common murder and Tk 100,000 to Tk 5 lakh for disposing of a rich and influential one.

The sources said that only big crimes are recorded with concerned police stations. For example, maximum numbers of robbery cases are recorded as burglary or theft instead of robbery since robbery is a serious type of crime compared to others.

On April 4, a gang of robbers numbering seven to eight stormed into the house of Sohrab Ali in Block-Dha of Mirpur section-12 under Pallabi police station at about 8:15pm.

The gangsters, five of them masked, looted cash and valuables and decamped without any intervention. Pallabi police registered it as robbery showing the number of felons 3 to 4.