ONCE again the incidents of snatching are rising sharply in the city resulting in feelings of insecurity to the dwellers. Sadly, the law enforcers are rather busy in other duties ignoring security in public life. The city streets are virtually ruled by snatchers as their mugging strategies and expansion of crime areas are being changed defying law and order. Though people’s perception of mugging – muggers maintain secret relation with local police – is not true for all incidents but the reluctance of law enforcers to combat mugging and defending citizens, the perception seems not totally wrong. Using police as political henchmen, culture of impunity, unaccountability, and the collapsing hierarchy in police administration has transformed the force into an ethical vacuum to protect the tax-payers.
A vernacular daily said around 300 incidents of snatching happened from July 01 to August 15 though police admitted that only one such incident was committed per day in metro Dhaka area. Referring to the register book of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, the daily said at least 30 people received treatment from the hospital in the last week after being assaulted by muggers in the city. In most cases, the muggers target the unsuspecting shoppers’ while mobile banking agents are also among their main targets as they are supposed to possess cash money and costly cell-phones. The incidents of mugging, snatching and looting are several times more than the cases recorded in this regard with the police stations as victims often do not lodge complaints. Dhaka Metropolitan Police have spotted 441 hot spots for mugging and snatching in the city recently, the daily reported.
The crimes, once, were perpetrated after dusk and in the streets out of police vigilance, but now the crimes are committed in the broad daylight and in many cases in front of police presence. The victims are sometimes harassed by the police if they go for lodging a case.
After withdrawal of the members of Rapid Action Battalion from patrolling, police has set-up check posts on roads in the Metropolitan Area but it failed to curb crimes such as snatching and mugging. Police are supposed to obey their statutes but in effect it works as a branch of the ruling party as its members are recruited politically and in most cases, the government high-ups pass direct orders to junior officers bypassing the hierarchy.
As employees of the state, the police have to do their main duty-which is defending the citizens, not working as party men. The government should let policemen do their statutory duty to curb crimes.
