Cattle raiders on the prowl

We have already increased vigilance and patrolling in the rivers to prevent robbery activities from taking place.

Shafiqul Islam River Police Chief

Picture this, it's a sunny day on the river, and cattle traders are peacefully making their way home after a successful day at the market. Suddenly, a group of robbers emerges from the water, armed to the teeth and ready to strike. They loot their victims and disappear into the depths, leaving chaos in their wake.

When they are not looting traders, they engage in professions like farming, tea selling or cloth trading at kitchen markets.

The river police have busted this  gang of raiders who mainly remain active before Eid and on weekdays when the cattle market takes place near the river banks.

The arrestees are Mohosin Sarker, 30, Tazul Islam, 30, Siddiqur Rahman, 30, Shaheen Bepari, 35, Md Mehedi, 25, Md Sihab, 22, and Ebadul Bepari, 40. They all have several cases pending against them, and several of them even have arrest warrants.

On Tuesday noon, officials of the river police arrested two robber leaders and five associates from Munshiganj. The robbers had attacked a trawler of cattle traders in broad daylight in the Padma, looting cash worth Tk 34.61 lakh and using four locally made firearms, 11 rounds of bullets, a cutter, six machetes, and nine mobile phones.

Police chased the robbers with six river police outpost teams on speedboats, and the chase started from Faridpur and ended in Munshiganj via Chandpur. Finally, the robbers surrendered as the police managed to surround them.

Out of the seven arrestees, two were ring leaders -- Tazul and Siddiqur. The gang members  hailed from Chandpur, Sharitpur, and Munshiganj districts.

River police chief Shafiqul Islam said they have already increased vigilance and patrolling in the rivers to prevent robbery activities from taking place. The robbers use local people on land to collect information about the cattle traders before the cattle market, and the police are trying to get the names of these informers.

They will submit an investigation report with proper evidence to ensure that these notorious criminals receive punishment during the trial, he added.

River police had earlier detained seven robbers on August 12 of last year. They detained 13 more robbers on December 26 of that year. Every time, local firearms were recovered from their possessions.