Staff Reporter :
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) have arrested seven members of a gang of robbers in connection with the snatching of luggage of two Indian medical students. They were picked up from two separate spots of the capital on Friday.
Arrested gang members were identified as Md. Fakhrul Islam, Md. Almas, Md. Sumon, Md. Abdullah Al Yusuf Ahmed, Md. Shahin, Md. Babu and Shafiqul Islam.
Police said the two victims were identified as Shaheel Ahmed and Asif Iqbal, students of city’s
Sirajul Islam Medical College Hospital. They had come from India for study.
On the morning of January 23, they were snatched on their way to India for a two-week vacation.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, DB Joint Commissioner Mahbub Alam said although it was a case of snatching, members of the robber gang were involved. The mastermind of this cycle is Abdullah Al Yusuf Ahmed. There are eight cases against him in different police stations.
Police said that the driver of a doctor’s car rented a car for the night to Fakhrul Islam, a member of the kidnapping ring. On January 23, on their way to the airport from the hostel, a white car stopped them at Maghbazar and snatched a trolley, a handbag, a laptop, two mobile phones, Indian rupees 57,000 and BD TK 7,500 from them.
Joint Commissioner Mahbub Alam said the gang members used to go out one day in a week to snatch using cars. They committed minimum three to four robberies on that day.
The number plate of the car was covered during the robbery so that it would not be recognized. Police said 18 mobile phone sets, a laptop and two knives were recovered from the robbers procession, police officials said.
According to the DB, when the road is found empty in the morning, the members of this gang get ready to snatch. In particular, they choose to snatch where there was no police patrol. So that they can snatch without any trouble. Such robberies often occur at night due to lesser police surveillance.
Asked about this, Joint Commissioner Mahbub Alam said that the members of the gang used to cause these incidents by evading the police. Such incidents are more common in places where there are no police to patrol.
