Chakaria ‘Shootout’: Was Jafar a drug dealer?
Family maintains he was innocent
Md Jafar, who was killed in a police "shootout" along with two others in Chakaria upazila of Cox's Bazar on July 31, used to run a drug syndicate in Bandarban, Patiya and Chakaria, intelligence sources say.
However, his family members claim he was innocent and police killed him failing to extort Tk 50 lakh, according to the case they filed with the Patiya Judicial Magistrate's Court on Sunday.
The two other deceased are Md Hasan, 37, of Chattogram's Patiya municipality area, and Jahir Ahmed, 45, of Shantinagar in Chakaria.
Chakaria Police Station OC Habibur Rahman, Inspector Aminul Islam of Harbang Police Outpost and 10 to 15 unnamed policemen were made accused in the case.
The court has ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate the case taking it into cognizance.
According to intelligence and police sources, Jafar's mother got involved in drug peddling with the help of a Rohingya woman 25 to 30 years back.
Jafar also started narcotics trade besides working at a poultry farm. At one stage, he flew to Oman and stayed there for several years, they added.
The sources said Jafar used to travel between Oman and Bangladesh frequently and take marijuana and yaba pills abroad with him. He came home in March for good on request of his mother and started a small business.
But he continued the drug trade and supplied yaba pills in Chattogram city, Chakaria and Harbang.
After the recent announcement by the inspector general of police to free the country from drugs by December 16, officials started to gather information about old and active narcotics dealers.
During investigation, they came to know that Jahir Ahmed was a yaba carrier working for Jafar. And their syndicate used to bring in narcotics from the border with the help of Rohingya refugees and indigenous people.
SM Injamul Haque, Kachuia Union Parishad chairman in Patiya, where Jafar's family lives now, said, "They shifted from Shikalbaha area under Karnaphuli upazila to Patiya five years ago and started to live here.
"Following Jafar's death, I started looking for their history and found drug allegations against Jafar's parents."
He added that he heard that police several times raided their house.
UP Member Anwar Hossain, who is named as a witness in the case, said, "It's true that police raided their house several times but nothing was found. They've bought land and built a house here after moving in from Karnaphuli area."
Jafar's father Abdul Aziz said his son had no criminal records with police or any enmity with anyone.
Jafar' brother-in-law Md Shah Alam, said due to a property dispute, the family shifted to Patiya from there selling the disputed land. The allegations against the family are false and fabricated, he added.
CID's Special Superintendent Md Shahnewaz Khaled said, "So far we haven't received any documents or order from the Patiya court regarding the case. We will follow the court instructions in the case after reading the court's order."
THE 'GUNFIGHT'
Regarding the "gunfight", police claimed that on the night of July 30, officials of Harbang Police Outpost got information that some narco dealers gathered in Banichara area by Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway to sell yaba.
It was around 2:40am on July 31 when police reached the spot.
Sensing presence of law enforcers, criminals opened fire and four police personnel -- Officer-in-Charge of Chakaria Police Station Habibur Rahman, Aminul, and constables Sajjad and Sabuj -- became injured, claimed officials.
Police fire back, triggering a "gunfight".
Police said they later found bullet-hit bodies of Jafar, Hasan and Jahir and that the three of them were members of a yaba smuggling gang.
Officials also claimed to have recovered 44,000 yaba tablets, two firearms, and seven cartridges from the spot.