A gang of muggers—or more of them—has been on the prowl in the early hours of the morning in Dhaka. Two persons were looted and killed by muggers yesterday. The pattern is the same in most of the mugging cases. The criminals come on motorbikes or in private cars and snatch valuables, like purses, earrings, or spectacles, from unsuspecting rickshaw passengers or pedestrians. A 38-year-old woman, Helena Begum, fell prey to muggers in the capital’s Dhanmondi area on Friday morning. The gang came in a private car and ran her over as they snatched her purse.

Helena used to work at the Green Life Medical College Hospital on Green Road, said Parvez Islam, inspector (investigation), Dhanmondi Police Station. According to the police, Helena arrived in Dhaka from Barisal with her husband yesterday. The couple took a bus from Sadarghat and got off at the stop near Dhanmondi Road 7. While they were crossing the road near Anwar Khan Modern Hospital, the muggers’ car approached them and one of them snatched Helena’s purse. “Helena fell on the ground and the car ran her over,” said

inspector Parvez, adding that she died instantly. Bachchu Mia, the sub-inspector who is in charge of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) police outpost, confirmed that the body has been handed over to the family after post-mortem. Police said an investigation has been started into the incident. They are trying to arrest the muggers.

Muggers also stabbed a man to death near the Saidabad railway tracks in Dhaka early on Friday. The gang attacked Ibrahim, 36, son of Bazlur Rahman of Khulna, around 4.40 am as he got off from a bus and started walking. They stabbed him several times, leaving him critically injured, said Bachchu Miah. Ibrahim was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead around 6 am.

On October 8, 2017, a student of Daffodil International University (DIU) was stabbed to death by muggers at Tikatuli in Dhaka around 6 am.

On November 29, a doctor of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Forhad Alam, fell off a rickshaw when muggers tugged at his bag, leaving him critically injured. He later succumbed to his injuries at a city hospital on December 5.

On December 18, a five-month-old boy, who was in the arms of his mother, fell on the road and died when muggers tried to snatch the mother’s handbag at Doyaganj in the city’s Suptrapur area.

At that time, the deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Masudur Rahman, had said: “We haven’t taken any additional steps to curb muggers and snatchers. The previous measures will continue in this regard.”

He had added: “Investigation into every incident, including the death of a child during mugging, is going on.” Rahman had said that various police stations and DB police units were working to nab muggers and criminals. On December 27, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, in its anti-mugging drive, had arrested 56 people across the city for their alleged involvement in snatching and robbery.

Joint commissioner of police (detective branch) Abdul Baten had told reporters at a press conference in the DMP media centre that action had been taken following media reports on the increasing number of mugging incidents.