CHITTAGONG: At least 10 murders, several daylight robberies and death threats to four prominent citizens in Chittagong city in the past 30 days have sparked panic among the residents, exposing the deteriorating law and order situation in the city.
In the past few months, 10 people have been killed in the city. While four persons were killed in broad daylight, four were slaughtered, two hacked to death, three were fatally stabbed, and a former Chhatra League leader was shot dead.
Four prominent citizens of the city, including Ekushey Award-winning educationist Dr Anupam Sen, received death threats from the banned Islamist outfit, Ansarullah Bangla Team, over mobile phone on Wednesday. “We have not been able to arrest anyone involved in the incident,” admitted Md Jashim Uddin, officer-in-charge, Kotwali police station.
Murders are continuing unabated. On Friday afternoon, murderers slit the throats of a custodian of an Islamic Sufi shrine and one of his disciples inside the shrine in Banglabazar area of Bayazid area. The criminals also blasted crude bombs in the area to escape from locals who had given chase.
Around 10pm on Tuesday, criminals shot dead a former local Bangladesh Chhatra League
(BCL) leader, Mehedi Hasan Badol, in the Shershah Colony area under Bayazid police station of the city.
On 27 August, around 9pm, a youth,
identified as Akkas Uddin, was hacked to death at Hijra para under Doublemooring police station of the city.
A readymade garments worker, identified as Shaheda Islam, was killed when her throat was slit at her residence at Kalsi Digir phar under Bandar police station.
On August 20, the managing director of a real estate firm, Aftab Uddin Al Kader, 36, was stabbed to death in the Bakalia area following a dispute over the construction of a building. A local, Saifur Rahman Siddiqui Akash, stabbed him.
Unidentified criminals hacked to death one Mohammad Aziz, 35, in broad daylight at Poda Mosque under Sadarghat police station around that period of time.
On August 15, a readymade garments worker—a drug addict—was stabbed to death by his friend during an altercation in the city’s EPZ area around 7pm. The police, however, succeeded in nabbing the accused.
A Juba Dal activist and cable operator, Shahedul Islam, 28, was killed in broad daylight at Alamtara Pukur Phar under Phartali police station on August 14. The police suspect personal enmity to be behind the crime.
Police also recovered a body bearing injury marks from the Karnaphuli on August 6.
Despite the spurt in the crime rate, the police are not prepared to concede the apparent failure of the force. “The incidents are not an indication that the police have failed to maintain law and order. Each murder occurred for different reasons. Most of these are the outcome of personal conflicts. We have detected the reasons behind most of the murders,” stated Devdas Bhattacharya, additional police commissioner (crime and operations), Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP).
“The police cannot keep track of all personal conflicts. Instead of resolving disputes civilly, people are getting overly impatient and intolerant nowadays,” added Bhattacharya.