Local people in Gazipur, one of the country鈥檚 industrial districts, are in fear as Gazipur city and its adjacent areas have turned into a crime zone.
Gazipur is making headlines in newspapers and on television in recent times due to the surge in the number of crime incidents.
Gazipur became the talk of the country following the August 7 murder of journalist Asaduzzaman Tuhin, who was hacked to death near Eidgah Market in Chandana Chowrasta area under the Bason police station in Gazipur city.
He was murdered reportedly for filming 鈥榓 honey-trap scheme鈥� by a local miscreant group.
According to the police, at least 104 murder incidents took place in the district between January and July this year.
Of them, 61 were committed in five upazilas in the district, and 43 occurred in the Gazipur Metropolitan Police area.
Extortions, establishing political dominance, mugging, jhut business, local grouping, land dispute and extramarital affairs were behind the murders and other crimes, said the police and local people.
Causalities also took place over chase and counter chase among the different political parties for their control in extortion and jhut and garbage business.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party expelled some of its and front bodies鈥� leaders following such clashes.
The additional inspector general of police for crime and operations, Khondoker Rafiqul Islam, told 抖阴精品 on Sunday that the Police Headquarters had already taken the issue of the surge in the number of criminal activities in Gazipur into consideration.
鈥榃e have a low number of police personnel in comparison with such a big area in Gazipur. We are looking forward to increasing the number of forces to combat crimes in the district and the city,鈥� Rafiqul said.
According to the PHQ crime statistics in the first six months of this year, 38 robberies, 60 thefts, 27 kidnappings and 396 narcotics cases were recorded in the police stations under the Gazipur Metropolitan Police.
Traders in the Gazipur said that they were in fear of closing their businesses if crimes were not contained.
Nayeem Khan Dulal, a trader at Joydevpur Bazar area in Gazipur, said that he did not find a conducive environment for doing business due to fear and risk.
鈥楤ut, I have no other option but to run my business here to maintain my family鈥檚 expenses,鈥� he added.
Mizanur Rahman, a trader and resident of Gazipur city, alleged that murders, drug peddling, thefts, mugging, extortion and mob violence had increased significantly in the area.
鈥楥onsidering the overall situation, we are not in a good state,鈥� he added. 聽
According to local people, the availability of drugs is聽 one of the main problems in Gazipur and many students of schools and colleges are becoming drug addicts.
A large number of those students were getting involved in teenage gangs, mob violence, extortion, mugging and other crimes to collect money for buying drugs, they said.
Addressing a press conference at his office on Saturday, GMP commissioner Nazmul Karim Khan said that many factories were shut down after the August 5, 2024 political changeover.
鈥業ncidents of crimes increase when employment opportunities decrease, and it is a threat to public security,鈥� he added.
He alleged that the Awami League had a stronghold in Gazipur and that the party leaders and activists were creating instability.
At least eight people, including the prime suspect, were arrested in the case of the August 7 killing of journalist Asaduzzaman Tuhin.
Tuhin was killed as he was spotted while recording another incident of hacking of a man named Badshah Mia, according to the police.
The police said that a group of miscreants attacked Badshah with sharp weapons after a confrontation reportedly involving an altercation with a local woman on August 7.
On August 8, the police recovered the dismembered body of a person from an abandoned travel bag at Tongi in Gazipur.
On August 3, Marufa Akther was killed by her husband in a locked house at Mawna union under Sreepur upazila in the district.
On July 20, three people were murdered in the district. Of them, a school office assistant Arif Hossain was stabbed to death in Kapasia, battery-run rickshaw driver Anowar Hossain was killed in the Mulgao area on Kaliganj bypass road and a factory worker Rafiqul Islam was killed in the city鈥檚 Kanabri area.
On June 28, at least 15 people were injured as two factions of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its associate bodies clashed over control of jhut business at Tongi in Gazipur.
During the clash, at least 20 crude bombs exploded, and five rounds of blank shots were fired, creating panic among locals.
On May 23, at least 15 people, including a journalist, were injured during a clash between two groups of the BNP over jhut business in the same place.
In the first week of July, BNP expelled four leaders of the Gazipur city unit over allegations of extortion at industrial factories and violating party discipline.
The expelled leaders are BNP Gazipur city unit鈥檚 former joint convener Rakib Uddin Sarkar, Swechchhasebak Dal鈥檚 Gazipur Metropolitan unit member secretary Abdul Halim Molla, Gazipur city BNP鈥檚 former member Ziaul Hasan and Swechchhasebak Dal鈥檚 Tongi East unit member secretary Sirajul Islam.
