Editorial
Murders in the city
Reordering of crime tackling strategy called for
The murder of a tenn year-old boy and the severe injuries inflicted on his father in Gandaria on Saturday once more bring into focus the worries generated by unbridled crime not only in the city but also elsewhere in the country. Add to the gruesome murder of the boy (he was subjected to dunking in a bucket of water only because he saw his father being attacked by local criminals) the murder of a trader in Kamrangirchar. The body of the trader was found hanging from a ceiling fan. A few days ago, the decomposing corpse of a pesh imam was discovered in the city, with as yet no clear clue as to who was behind his murder. As a matter of fact, hardly a day goes by when some murder or the other is not committed in the nation's capital.
It is time for the government to take notice. Of late we have noted the observance of a police week in the country, with nearly everyone who matters exhorting the law enforcers to take their job seriously. Judging by the way things have been going, with not just murders but also robbery, vandalism and extortion, it is pretty obvious that such exhortations have not been working to people's satisfaction. Now, what needs to be done is a thorough recasting of perspective on law and order in the sense that the police and other security agencies in the country are fully and purposefully deployed in the task of keeping track of criminals and would-be criminals. In many cases, those who commit crime swiftly disappear. Those who are eventually caught are rather few in number, but the larger body of criminals somehow remains outside the police net. In recent times, despite an expanded police presence in many areas, especially in the capital, extortionists and murderers have apparently become active. An intriguing aspect of recent murder-related crimes is that they have generally occurred when demands for extortions have not been met.
Clearly, the home ministry has been unable to convince the nation that it is on top of things. Indeed, in these past two years of the Awami League-led government, this ministry has been one of those which have not performed to people's satisfaction. Serious rethinking on how the ministry and the police department can reorder their crime-battling strategy is called for. Having taken much flak in recent times on charges of having been behind a number of extra-judicial killings, such forces as the Rapid Action Battalion as also the police must now focus on tackling real crime. It is in the alleys and by-lanes of the city rather than broad roads and streets where crime is generally committed. Security patrols must, therefore, be redirected to these areas.
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