The Detective Branch of police has arrested 42 members of "Salaam Party", a gang they claim mugged people at knifepoint in different areas of Dhaka.

The muggers were picked up during special raids conducted across the capital yesterday, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police said in a press release.

The arrestees confessed during primary interrogation that first they greeted pedestrians or rickshaw passengers with "salaam" and then mugged them at knifepoint.  

They targeted people in areas along Satrasta, Nabisco area, Mohakhali Bus Terminal, Banani, Gulshan-1, Rampura Bridge, Dhanmondi, Bongshal, Chawkbazar, Kalabagan, Gulistan, Jatrabari, Sayedabad and New Market, according to the press release.

The DB team also recovered 74 mobile phone sets, a tab, a laptop, 13 knives and two machetes during the drive.

"Salaam Party" was discovered after police started looking into similar mugging incidents, said the press release.