Police register a case as a mugging incident only if someone has died while being snatched anywhere in the country, including Dhaka city.
Muggers killed two persons- a man and a woman-in the capital on Friday.
Incidents of muggings have recently increased sharply in the capital. However, police station records show no incident of mugging has occurred in Dhaka city in recent times.
A woman was killed under the wheels of a private car as muggers pulled her vanity bag from a moving vehicle on Mirpur Road in Dhanmondi and a man allegedly stabbed to death by muggers in Sayedabad of Dhaka on Friday.
The deceased-Helena Begum, 38- an ayah at the Green Life Medical College Hospital in Green Road and the man, Ibrahim, 35, of Sonadanga in Khulna.
Monirul Islam Montu, the husband of Helena said the mugging took place at dawn near Anwar Khan Modern Hospital and College as the victim and her husband were crossing the Mirpur Road.
They were returning to their Green Road residence from Sadarghat launch terminal early in the morning, Montu said and added they went to their village home in Barisal to collect their national identity cards.
They were crossing the road after disembarking from a bus at a bus stop in Dhanmondi near Road
No 7.
Suddenly, Montu found his wife missing and saw her being dragged on the road by a white private car as one of Helena's hands was stuck to a door of the vehicle, he said.
Two men were inside the vehicle, which speeded towards Gabtali, Montu, technician of a private company, said. At one point, he saw Helena's body going under a wheelof the car, Montu added.
She died on the spot, he said.
Police Inspector Md Parvez Islam said she arrived in Dhaka with her husband Monirul Islam on Friday after spending a vacation in Barisal. The couple took a bus from Sadarghat and got off at the bus stop near Dhanmondi Road 7.
As they were crossing the road, the muggers' car approached and snatched Helena's purse, said the police officer quoting the victim's husband.
"Helena fell on the ground when her purse was snatched and the car ran over her," said Inspector Parvez and added she died instantly. He said police is probing the matter.
In a separate incident at Sayedabad Rail Tract unidentified muggers stabbed Ibrahim as he was walking by the rail line at about 4:30am, police said.
"The stabbed victim ran towards a nearby hospital in a critical condition and collapsed on reaching the hospital," said Sub-Inspector Bachchu Mia, In-Charge of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) police outpost.
At DMCH doctors declared him dead around 6:30am, the police official added.
Last month, a 5-month-old infant died after falling from a moving rickshaw in Dhaka's Dayaganj when muggers attempted to snatch the mother's purse.
Similarly, the death of a physician a week earlier in a mugging incident caused by falling from the rickshaw he was riding is another glaring example of the spurt in incidents of mugging. The doctor fell on the road as two speeding motorcycle-riding youths snatched the bag strapped to his shoulders. The muggers fled with the laptop inside the bag. The doctor later died at a hospital while undergoing treatment for severe head injuries.
The frequency of mugging by criminals in the guise of plainclothesmen is also a matter of concern for the people.
Criminals are virtually ruling the streets in the capital, particularly after dusk, causing worries for the city dwellers.
Most of the mugging incidents remain unreported as most of the victims either do not dare or feel encouraged to report the incidents to the police, as they apprehend further harassment without any recompense.
They usually snatch mobile phone sets, laptops, other electronic devices, handbags, and ornaments from people. The criminals mostly use unregistered vehicles, especially motorbikes, to move around the city.
They usually prey on rickshaw passengers at dawn using bike and private car. Many victims said that criminals easily run away with their money and other belongings in the absence of police patrol.
Victims said most of the city intersections and thoroughfares have become vulnerable to mugging.
In the guise of passengers, muggers stay inside their car or microbus. When a passenger gets into their vehicle, they snatch his/her valuables and dump him/her in a less frequented place.
Some muggers use sedative drugs to knock out their targets and loot valuables while some commit the crimes introducing themselves as policeman.
Sometimes, law enforcers manage to arrest some snatchers from different places, but the criminals get released on bail and commit the crime again.
According to police records, six more cases of mugging, and dozens of other criminal activities like hijacking, extortion took place in different parts of the city in the last 30 days.
However, the actual number of mugging and hijacking will be more than that as only a very few cases are reported to police, sources said.
They said most of the victims are reluctant to go to the police stations fearing harassment. On many occasions, the police themselves discourage the victims to file complaints, added the sources.
Every day police record general diaries (GDs) for petty thefts due to the pressure from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Headquarters.
A high official of the media wing of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) told the Daily Observer that police are investigating and conducting drives to arrest criminals in connection with every single mugging incident.
