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| Bangladesh |
| Bangla: Outlaws regrouping in SW under political cover |
| 2009-02-25 |
| Several outlawed parties and gangs in the country's south-western region have started regrouping and resuming their activities under the command of over 50 kingpins. Sources said the leaders, who had been evading arrest for the last few years, returned to their areas and are leading the regrouping mission. They are also recruiting fresh cadres to increase their strength, they added. Many of them are also maintaining close relations with political figures. The outlaws are working openly in some areas of Kushtia, Meherpur, Chuadanga, Jhenidah, Jessore, Khulna and Bagerhat districts. In Kushtia, at least 12 listed outlawed-party leaders and gang leaders had tried to escape arrest after some of their accomplices were killed in "crossfire" between them and law enforcers in the last four years. A few of them were also in Kushtia jail. Sources said the criminals have started to return. At least three kingpins were released from Kushtia jail during the last few days on High Court bail. They have started re-establishing their old chain of command. According to sources, Gono Bahini chief Azibor Rahman alias Azibor Chairman and his two key accomplices, Anwar Hossain Anu and Mandar, Gono Mukti Fouz chiefs Shaheen and Mukul and their regional commanders Swapan Chakraborty, Abu Taleb and Bakhtiar have started their activities in Kushtia, Chuadanga and Jhenidah. Three regional leaders of Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) Janajuddha faction Badiur Rahman, Anwarul Islam and Atiar have allegedly started criminal activities in some areas of Meherpur district. Dukhu, leader of Dukhu Bahini, is working in the border areas of Mujibnagar in Meherpur, sources said. Twelve outlawed-party leaders of Chuadanga are now making arrangements to resume their activities. They are PBCP Janajuddha leader Robi, Oltu, Azad, Moka, Sahidul, Khorsed, Tosel and Kismat and PBCP-ML faction leaders Jamal Uddin, Somser, Kalu and Communist Juddha boss Amirul. All of them had gone into hiding after Chuadanga police on October 23, 2005, announced bounties between Tk 20,000 and Tk 5 lakh on 20 outlaws. Six out of the 20, including Janajuddha founder Abdur Rashid Malitha Tapan, Janajuddha military commander Abir Hasan, were killed in "crossfires". Khulna police are looking for 10 listed criminals who have resumed their criminal activities. They are Iqbal Hasan Swadhin, Mohammad Hossain Mukta, Ripon, Hasan, Harun-ur-Rashid, Golam Kader Bappi of PBCP-Janajuddha, Harun Sheikh and Kamal Sheikh of PBCP-ML faction and Sailendranath Biswas and Shamim Akhter of New Biplabi Communist Party. Jessore police recently listed 183 criminals. A number of outlawed political party leaders top the list. Sarbahara leader Mintu, Janajuddha leader Abbas are active in Jessore Sadar while other Janajuddha figures Liton, Shimul Prashanta, Tima alias Shamim, Mostafa, Datal Babu are active in different areas of the district. Dablu, Riaz, Uzzal and a few other listed outlawed-party bosses have also started their operations in Bagerhat. In Jhenidah, at least 10 out of 18 top-listed criminals have resumed their criminal activities. Anwar Hossain Debu of outlawed Biplabi Communist Party (BCP), Bidhan Chandra and Ruhul Alam of Gono Mukti Fouz are among the 10. Sources claim that police and even Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have become silent after this government took over. They claimed a number of political party leaders are giving shelter to the criminals. Some leaders are seen accompanied by notorious criminals. The leaders tell others that they are partymen. Talking to The Daily Star, a number of high officials of Khulna police said they have information about criminals resuming their activities in some pockets. They, requesting anonymity, said a few leaders of major political parties are involved in various criminal gangs and outlawed parties. These political figures use criminals to establish supremacy in their areas. "It is impossible to root outlaws out overnight since they have been active for about 40 years," a high-ranking police official said. |
| Posted by:Fred |