A young man wearing a mask and helmet makes a short visit to a local internet service provider's office in the capital's Badda Gudaraghat, and on his way out, he pulls a gun out of his pocket and shoots in the general direction of an employee of the establishment without hitting him.

In security camera footage from February 3 evening, the man in the helmet is seen walking out of the premises after firing his weapon.

Immediately after the incident, one of the owners of the business received a voice message that said, "I am Robin from Malaysia. What just happened is a warning. Next time, there will be blood."

Police believe Robin, a listed criminal on the run, controls a gang of extortionists in the capital's Badda.

Officers have another CCTV footage from February 11 showing a large group of men walking into a restaurant in Merul Badda with firearms and assaulting the manager and damaging furniture.

Badda police filed two cases in connection with the incidents as the business owners would not dare to file cases and be in the crosshairs of the gangsters.

In one of the complaints, Sub-Inspector Nuruzzaman wrote that 16 identified men and 10 to 12 unidentified others entered the restaurant with firearms and demanded Tk 10 lakh.

When Saiful Hawlader, the manager, said he did not have the money, the men beat him up, vandalised the shop, and threatened to kill him.

The accused men belong to a gang run by a criminal named Mehedi who lives in the US, officers say. 

Armed groups controlled by Mehedi, who goes by the alias Collins, often collect hefty sums from local businesses and construction sites, says the complaint.

In the capital's Bhatara area in recent months, five armed gangs have been competing with each other over who gets to extort the roadside vendors, rickshaw pullers, and small business owners, police and locals say.

Mehedi and Robin, the two mob bosses, also control gangs in Bhatara. The other listed criminals who control local gangs from abroad are Zeesan Ahmed, Dalim Mahbub and Chanchal, police said.

Some members of the gangs are also ward- and thana-level leaders of the ruling Awami League, police said.

In Joarsahara area of Bhatara on March 18, a group of armed criminals shot Rubel Hossain, a businessman, in the leg for refusing to give money.

After the incident, the Gulshan division of Detective Branch of police arrested seven suspects and recovered six firearms, five magazines and 75 bullets from their possession.

One of the arrestees, Rasheduzzaman Khan Raju, admitted that he shot Rubel.

On March 11 and 12, a Rab team in Uttar Badda arrested six members of a gang that used to make and sell firearms. The officers recovered four guns, and many components of firearms waiting to be assembled. 

On February 17, Badda police arrested three alleged associates of Zeesan Ahmed and recovered a pistol and five bullets.

One of them, Amzad Hossain, known among locals as Chakku Sohel, had photos of a modern, small pistol. Police recovered the pistol and four bullets at the flat of one of Zeesan's men, Mohammad Rahim, said Sub-Inspector Saiful Islam Bhuiyan of Badda Police Station, who led the drive.

But police could not catch Rahim. Another close associate of Zeesan, Abul Bashar Badsha, is a former general secretary of Badda Thana Swechchhasebak League. He is also on the run, police sources said.

Police said ward-21 Jubo League General Secretary Abdul Mannan handles Zeesan's money. Police are looking for him.

Locals and police sources said there are at least six current or former local leaders of AL and its front organisations in Mehedi's gang.

On April 10, a guard of an ATM booth was stabbed to death in Shahjadpur area of Gulshan.

Detectives arrested a suspect named Ariful Islam 12 days later. He had tried to break open the cash machine but failed.

Contacted, Jahangir Alam, general secretary of Badda AL, said he always cooperates with law enforcers in catching criminals.

"When a fully-fledged committee of the party will be formed in Badda, men involved in crimes will not be included," he told The Daily Star.

Rifat Rahman Shamim, deputy commissioner (Gulshan) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said police are continuously conducting raids and arresting suspects.

"We request people to let us know if they receive threats. The complainants' identities are kept secret," the DC said.