Staff Reporter :
You can always hear about the teenagers’ gang. They are involving in different social conflicts randomly. Experts say parents’ busyness is pushing their children into the world of crime. And police say it is not possible for them alone to control juvenile delinquency.
The teenagers’ gang has become quite known in the country in the last few years. They are committing crimes such as robbery, drug use, intimidation or even murder. All kinds of efforts from the society and from the families are failing to control the crimes.
Mother of 17-year old Apu, a victim of a gang dispute in Kamrangirchar area in the capital, was describing the pain of losing her only son. Apu was killed recently by an opposition gang while trying to settle a dispute of a third party.
Sources said that at least 30 to 40 teenager gangs are active in the Kamrangircahr area in the city. Most of the conflicts have been occurred over senior and junior issues, said a resident of the area on condition of anonymity.
Another person said that at least 10 to 12 youths would sit in front of each lane and chitchat there. At least 30 to 40 gangs move in our area, added the person.
After the murder of a teenage gang member Adnan Kabir in early 2017, and after the gang culture made headlines at that time, a crackdown was launched by the law enforcers on such groups who engaged in different criminal activities across Dhaka city.
Adnan, member of the gang “Nine Star” and a Uttara resident, was hacked to death by the members of his rival group “Disco Boys” in the area on January 6 that year.
The clampdown of law enforcers caused the crime gangs to go into hiding, and no such crime was reported for quite some time. However, in the course of time, they started reorganising, and are seen committing offences for the last few months.
They have been brawling among themselves, as well as with rival groups over establishing supremacy in their respective areas, pushing up crimes like murder significantly. A total of 1191 teenagers have been arrested in 821 cases in first six months of the last year, according to a data of the police headquarters.
Police and the experts say that these trends could not be prevented by law only. Parents have to give enough time and company to their children.
Deputy Commissioner (Detective Branch) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Mashiur Rahman said, “They put a knife in the chest of a close friend. Sometimes they hit in the head with a brick or a stone for a little word. It is not possible for the police alone to uproot such gangs.”
Crime analyst Professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman Karzon said, “There is no easy solution for it. It could not be happened that you will want your children only to be safe and healthy with so much violence inside the society and the state.”
