A life of crime catches up to them

They spent their childhood working as labourers in the capital's Karwan Bazar kitchen market. Their task was to unload vegetables from trucks that arrived in droves at the market.

The two teenage friends -- Md Sohel and Md Titu -- were of the same age, worked together, stayed at the market together and also planned together how to make more money.

The plans, which soon turned into action, involved petty thefts such as hiding a basket full of vegetables, fish or chicken while unloading and later selling those to make a quick buck.

It worked out for a while, but they eventually got caught. Sohel and Titu were sent to a correctional facility, from where they got out and once again got involved in theft, thus unleashing a chain of events involving robbery, doing time and leading a life of crime.

By the time they became adults, they had been involved in numerous robberies. And by 30, they even formed a gang of robbers with around 15 members who they met at different prisons at different times.

The duo, now 36, used to operate in the capital and its outskirts, and conducted robbery three to four times a week.

But their actions eventually caught up with them when five members of the gang including Sohel got arrested by the Detective Branch of police on Sunday and Titu was killed in a "gunfight" with police at Bacchila in Mohammadpur early Tuesday.

In a special drive, officials of Pallabi and Mohammadpur zonal teams arrested the five around 8pm in Mirpur on Sunday, Golam Mostofa Rashel, deputy commissioner of DB (west), told The Daily Star. The other four arrestees are Sohrab (30), Newaz (22), Shaheen (25) and Raju, (25), he added.

He said the DB teams also seized a pick-up van, Tk 5,000, a machete, iron rod and kitchen knives from them.

Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said interrogating the arrestees, the DB team went on a drive at Bachhila around 12:15am on Tuesday.

Sensing police presence, criminals opened fire, forcing law enforcers to retaliate. At one point, police found one injured person at the spot and took him to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead, said DC Masud.

Police later came to know that the deceased is Titu. DC Masud said law enforcers also recovered a revolver and knife from the spot.

PHARMACY HEIST

The deputy commissioner of DB (west) said wearing masks, the gang had robbed Billal Pharma in Mohammadpur on April 1 and Lazz Pharma in Khilgaon on April 5.

DB officials said the group mainly conducted robberies in the bordering areas of the capital like Badda, Rampura, Beribadh, Adabar, Mirpur, Jatrabari, Turag and Kanchpur Bridge so that they can flee easily.

Sahadat Hossain, additional deputy commissioner of DB police, said robbing pharmacies was a first for them and they did so as the city roads were empty due to the shutdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

During interrogation, the group members said on April 1 they robbed a pharmacy and intercepted an SUV in Mohammadpur.

"From Lazz Pharma in Khilgaon they took Tk 5,000 and a laptop. Then on April 10, they stopped a truck and looted 15 to 20 cartons of shrimp. They sold those for Tk 25,000 although the actual price should have been Tk 2 lakh," said the DB official.

He said the gang never tried to score big to avoid attention and chose soft targets intentionally. "We will interrogate them further after placing them on remand," he added. "Sohel, who hailed from Noakhali, used to plan the robberies while his friend Titu [from Sylhet] drove the pick-up."

Being leaders, Titu and Sohel took 80 percent cut of the looted goods, said ADC Sahadat, who led the drive to arrest the five. They had two pick-ups, which they also stole -- one from Mirpur and another from Ashulia -- a few years back, said the DB official.

"We got names of around 14 persons from Sohel. He said they never used all members while conducting a robbery. They used to alternate among them as well as the pick-ups," said ADC Sahadat. "We are now carrying out drives to arrest others," he added.

The DB official said both Sohel and Titu had been involved in crimes since childhood and were wanted in multiple cases.

"We would be able to inform clearly about the number of cases against them after analysing documents. Sohel was last arrested in a car robbery case by DB police four years back," he added.