Fighting off Robbers in Chars: People turning to bows, arrows
People of remote chars in Fulchhari upazila are practicing shooting arrows in the wake of frequent attacks by robbers on villages along the Jamuna river basin.
Locals have hired a Santal man from Ghoraghat in Dinajpur for manufacturing bows and arrows and train them up.
The robbers have meanwhile threatened the locals along with public representatives with dire consequences if they take any measures against them.
The criminals usually arrive on high-speed country boats with firearms and raid the char villages deep at night. They loot cattle and valuables at gunpoint, locals say.
At least seven people were shot dead by robbers for resisting their crimes in different places in last few years, they add.
There are 165 char islands along the Teesta and Jamuna rivers and many of these chars remain isolated from the mainland.
The locals say at least 60 families were living on Kholabari char at Islampur upazila in Jamalpur but were forced to shift to Tengrakandi char in Fulchhari due to frequent attacks by robbers.
The robbers attack wedding party boats, cattle and goods carrying boats even in daylight and loot goods, cattle and valuables, said Hashem Ali, a farmer of Tengrakandi.
Iman Ali, member of a village police team in Tengrakandi, said very recently three boats of robbers came to attack the area, but locals foiled their attempt.
Earlier on August 8, robbers attacked the villagers of Chowmohon char. As locals tried to resist, the criminals opened fire on them, leaving one Dulal Mia dead on the spot and injuring another Bablu Mia. Angry people at one stage caught two robbers, beat up one to death and threw his body into the river.
Sahebuddin, member of a ward in Tengrakandi and president of ward unit Awami League, said, “We have hired Santal man Alpon from Ghoraghat in Dinajpur so that they can protect their lives and property from the robbers.”
“In response, the robbers have threatened me with dire consequences. A police camp is inevitable in the char to protect the people from robbers,” said Jainul Abedin Jalal, chairman of Fazlupur Union Parishad.
Against this backdrop, a meeting against increasing trend of robbery and abuse of drugs was held on Friday afternoon at Chandanesher High school ground where lawmakers and high officials of district and police administration of Gaibandha, Kurigram and Jamalpur were present.
More than 1,000 people from different areas attended the meeting demanding a permanent river police outpost in char land for their safety.
The speakers at the meeting assured the people of setting up additional police outposts in the chars with necessary high-speed water vehicles to maintain law and order.
Chaired by Gautam Chandra Pal, deputy commissioner, Gaibandha, the meeting was attended by Deputy Speaker in Parliament Advocate Fazley Rabbi Mia as the chief guest.
Jamalpur-2 lawmaker Faridul Islam Dulal, Kurigram-4 lawmaker Ruhul Amin, Additional DIG of Rangpur Range Monjurul Kabir, Deputy Commissioner of Jamalpur Ahmed Kabir, Police Super of Gaibandha Masrukur Rahman Khaled, Police Super of Jamalpur Rawnak Jahan, and Police Super of Kurigram Menhajul Islam, Habibur Rahman, among others, addressed the meeting.
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