Weapons drill on social media, then murder: Concern increasing in new form of teenage gangs

Teenage criminal gangs are making social media a tool for forming groups, publicity and spreading fear amid an average of more than ten murder cases a day and about 60 incidents of violence against women and children every day.

In Wireless Colony of Khulshi in Chattogram city a group of teenagers aged 14 to 15 had released a video on a social media platform by holding weapons openly on the road; they introduced themselves as members of the ‘Seven Star’ group. Police has informed that another gang named ‘Five Star’ is also active in the same area. The kirich that was seen in the video was used to murder a teenager before the week had even passed.

The incident is not isolated. From Cumilla to Noakhali, from Mohammadpur of Dhaka to Rajshahi, Facebook, Messenger and TikTok have become the main medium of organization, publicity and threat of teenage gangs across the country. This tendency is becoming acute at a time when public concern over the overall law and order situation of the country is not easing.

Forming groups in the name of videos, ruthless proof in the murder of Oprotim
The murder of 13-year-old Ishaat Shahriar Oprotim, a seventh-grade student in Cumilla, has made the face of this danger clear. District Superintendent of Police Md Anisuzzaman has informed that Oprotim was killed by hitting him on the head with bamboo and sticks to snatch an iPhone, after which three persons fled with the phone.

Local sources are saying that the main accused 19-year-old Saiful Islam Tuhin was trying to form a teenage gang and also wanted to pull Apratim into the group. He used to gather other teenagers by talking about making TikTok videos. The accused have taken part in multiple ‘gang parties’; pictures of those parties used to be posted on Facebook to show influence.

Several common features have been found among the gangs of Cumilla: the members gather through TikTok videos or social media groups; most have iPhones or expensive mobiles in their hands, many have motorcycles. Kandirpara, Dharmasagar, Ranir Dighi, Talpukur and Adalatpara have become particularly conflict-prone. The Superintendent of Police informed that more than two and a half hundred teenage gang members have been arrested after he took charge on November 30 of last year, but the police does not have an updated list of the active groups in the district.

The drive was intensified across the district after the murder of Oprotim. Police of 18 police stations conducted drives together and detained 624 persons. However incidents of several detained persons fleeing from the police station and giving slogans have also occurred in the drive, and the writing of gang names on walls has not stopped.

Creating panic by making reels, ‘branding’ on online IDs
Police detained three persons including the head of a gang from Bejugalia village of Tamaraddi union in Hatiya of Noakhali at dawn on September 26. Police informed that the group under the leadership of Osama had been organizing teenagers online for a long time and used to spread reels by displaying local weapons from an ID named ‘OST’ on Facebook and TikTok. Officer-in-charge of Hatiya police station Md Kabir Hossain informed that the drive was conducted on the basis of secret information and the leader of the group along with others was arrested.

The picture is more organized in the capital. Videos of armed drills of teenage gangs of various names are spreading on social media, where more than a hundred youths are marching holding weapons including ramda, chapati and samurai. The videos are being spread from IDs with coded numbers and pages with names like ‘Mastermind Mohammadpur’. Intelligence sources are saying that groups like ‘Big Boss’, ‘Youngster Group’, ‘Blood Boys’ are active in Dakshin Khan and several more groups in Uttara East police station area; these are being controlled by several top criminals with the titles of ‘Killer’ and ‘Shooter’. In Rajshahi also metropolitan police took measures after a video of blocking the path of a ninth-grade student, beating and threatening him went viral.

Allegation of political shelter
The allegation of ‘big brother’ and political patronage behind the teenage gangs is not new. Amid the controversy over the appearance of the much-discussed gang leader 25-year-old Imran Hossain alias Raton of Cumilla in the processions of Jubo Dal and Chatra Dal, a video of his phone conversation with a joint president of metropolitan Chatra Dal has spread on social media. There is also the allegation that an relative of a party leader is providing support from behind to another group active in Sadar South.

Overall picture: Murder, torture, public beating
According to the calculation of police headquarters, 317 murder cases were filed in March, 288 in April, 310 in May and 326 in June after the new government took charge.

In the range-based calculation of the three months from March to May Dhaka Range is at the top, followed by Chattogram, Rajshahi and Khulna. Among the metropolitan cities the highest number of murder cases is in Dhaka.

However there is difference of opinion on the explanation of the statistics. According to the calculation of the headquarters the murder cases from January to July of the current year are about nine and a half percent less compared to the same period of the previous year. Police claims that more than half of the 605 murders of March-April are due to previous disputes, and only three are due to political reasons.

The picture is also concerning beyond murders. In the first eight months of the current year 14,602 incidents of violence against women and children have occurred, about 60 a day on average. The tendency of public beating has also not stopped; student of Khulna University Azmul Hossain has been beaten to death on the allegation of stealing rice in Khulna.

Steps of the government
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has informed that the cyber unit of DMP is keeping the Facebook pages, secret groups and TikTok IDs that the teenage gangs run in their own names under constant surveillance. More than 18,000 people have been arrested in the anti-crime drive since May. Additional IGP (Crime and Ops) Khandaker Rafiqul Islam has said that the instruction has been given to take measures against the criminals irrespective of political identity. A senior officer of police headquarters has informed that a large-scale special joint drive will start soon.

Only drive is not the solution
According to crime analysts, although temporary relief comes through arrests the teenagers released on bond are quickly returning to the previous groups. Of the 56 persons arrested in one drive in Cumilla 32 have been released on bond.

Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed, psychiatrist, said that the breakdown of the family structure, divorce or growing up in the absence of parents is pushing the teenagers towards gangs, which ultimately leads to violence.