Babar himself recently acknowledged the rise in criminal activities and expressed concern to reporters.

Sources in the intelligence agencies said gangmen in the absence of their leaders have formed small groups to carry out crimes to make their position and role felt ahead of the election. Top criminals, who reportedly enjoy the blessings of some ruling alliance leaders, are directing their associates from outside the country.

Local teenage youths, who are not on the police list of criminals, get involved in killing, toll collecting, abduction, mugging and other forms of criminal activities, police sources said.

Reports of intelligence agencies said such crimes may increase in the days to come.

Associates of top criminal Tanvir Ahmed Joy shot dead one person and wounded five others inside the office of a manpower agency at Hatirpool in the capital on May 14. Joy called the owner of the agency from Singapore and India demanding a toll of Tk 50 lakh and later, upon being refused, raised the amount to Tk 5 crore.

Underworld sources said top criminals started visiting the country from their hideouts in neighbouring India as the law enforcers were more focused in their countrywide anti-militant drives in the past few months. On these short visits, the underworld dons organised their groups, reasserting their leadership, and went back to their dens.

Recently, Mukul, one of the chargesheeted accused in the case filed in connection with the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally in 2004, visited the country, the sources said.

The latest police count reveals that 73 people were killed during the first four months of this year in Dhaka alone. Besides, 67 cases of mugging, 14 robberies and 589 theft were lodged with different police stations here.

However, the real number of crime incidents except murder is much more higher than what the police records show, as victims often do not inform the police about the incidents. In about 90 per cent cases, mugging victims preferred not to file any complaint.

According to newspaper reports, at least 25 people have been killed this month.

Besides, car-lifting--often accompanied by the killing of the driver--also became a headache for the law enforcers.

Alarmed by the sudden rise in crimes, Babar held a marathon meeting with Rab and directed it to curb the slide in law and order--the result of slackened police efforts.

The police department was also alerted in this regard at the last meeting of the home ministry, but it failed to contain the law and order.

A top Rab official said around 600 Rab members are patrolling the city round the clock while its intelligence wing members are working to catch the criminals.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner SM Mizanur Rahman told The Daily Star yesterday that they have geared up efforts to arrest the criminals. He said police patrol and other steps have been strengthened to check crimes.

Asked if he has reports about the top criminals' recent visits to the country, the commissioner said he does not have any such report.