HOME Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal have urged parents to keep an eye on their children’s activities to keep them from getting involved in teen gangs. He made the remarks while addressing a discussion at Police Staff College in Dhaka’s Mirpur over prevention of harassment, negative uses of internet, child marriage and other social issues. He also said that actions would be taken if any teenager was involved in criminal activities. Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia vowed to uproot the ‘gang culture’. The statements came four days after 17-year-old Mohsin Ali was hacked to death in the capital’s Mahammadpur area allegedly by members of a teen gang.
Police on Friday evening detained 110 youngsters and teenagers for allegedly harassing people by making obscene remarks and gestures conducting drives in Hatirjheel, Madhubagh and Mahanagar Project areas. Police also have detained 22 teenagers in Mohammadpur suspecting them to be members of different teen gangs in the area. Several teen gangs were active in the area, including gangs named Lara Dey, Level High, Artonad, Film Jhirjhir, Dekhe Lo Chine Lo and Kopaiya Dey, the police said. Most of the detainees committed crimes like sexual harassment, mugging and drug peddling, police claimed, adding that the drive was conducted to remove teen-gang activities in Tejgaon area.
Dhaka’s teen-gang culture came into limelight after Adnan Kabir, a ninth grader in Uttara, was beaten to death in January 2017. According to law enforcement agencies, around 50 teen gangs were active in different parts of the city. Most of these gang members are aged between 14 and 18 and were involved in various petty criminal activities.
The teenage gang culture is now an international phenomenon. Breakdown of society and the tendency to go to the centre of power is the main reason for the gang culture. Political parties actually patronize them. Textbook education is now incomplete and due to this, hatred towards other religions and humiliation of women are increasing. And in terms of this, basic social declines are created. Now, as ever, there is a lack of natural entertainment that forces teenagers to form a gang where they take to anti-social activities. Building awareness among parents is the key to solving the problem.
