7 jungle pirate gangs roaming in Sundarbans
Bagerhat Correspondent :
The fear of gangs was increased again in the world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans. The Sundarbans had been quiet for a few days after the surrender of the bandit forces.
Relief had returned to the lives of people dependent on the forest. But the bandits have started to rear their heads again. Due to this, the fear of the Sundarbans is embodied in the fear of the bandit force, the fishermen are afraid to go into the forest.
However, the Coastguard’s search operation is continuing. This has reduced the activity of the bandit force. Relief has returned to the forest dwellers on the coast.
Sources from the Forest Department and the law enforcement agencies say that the bandits of the Sundarbans had surrendered in several rounds and returned to the path of light.
In 2016, seven bandit groups of the Sundarbans surrendered together. At that time, 32 bandits surrendered their weapons and promised to return to normal life. Then on November 1, 2018, some 57 bandits from 9 bandit groups surrendered.
Later, on November 1, 2019, another some 25 bandits surrendered. More than a hundred bandits surrendered and returned to the normal life, due to which the Sundarbans moved towards becoming bandit-free.
However, incidents like the kidnapping of fishermen and fishermen in the last three months once again indicate the emergence of new bandit groups in the Sundarbans.
Sources say that in the last three months, at least more than 20 fishermen were kidnapped in different areas of the Sundarbans. At least Tk. 1 to 3 lakh were demanded from them as ransom. In several cases, the Coastguard were able to rescue the fishermen through successful operations.
Several fishermen and foresters associated with the Sundarbans, on condition of anonymity, say that new bandit groups are formed under different names. Among them, there are at least 5/7 bandit groups, including Karim Sharif Bahini and Dayal Bahini.
These bandits stay deep in the Sundarbans by boat. They have camps at various points in the deep forest. Taking advantage of the opportunity, these bandits sometimes take fishing trawlers or forest dwellers hostage.