25 forest robbers surrender
Hand over 32 firearms, ammo to home minister in Patuakhali
Twenty-five forest robbers handed over 32 arms and 1,110 bullets to Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at a programme at Patuakhali Shilpakala Academy auditorium in the district town yesterday, following their surrender to the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) the day before.
The robbers including 19 of 'Alif bahini' led by Alif Mollah alias Doyal, 42, and six of 'Kabiraj bahini' led by Eunus Ali alias Kabiraj, 30, surrendered to the Rab at Sharonkhola Range under the Sundarbans on Friday, said Lt Col Anwaruzzaman, commanding officer of Rab-8 in Barisal.
Earlier, 107 robbers belonging to 11 gangs surrendered to the law enforcement agencies in last 11 months with 216 firearms and 11,380 bullets in the coastal areas including the Sundarbans, said Major Adnan Kabir, deputy commander of Rab-8.
Of them, 10 are of Master bahini, 11 of Mojnu and Elias bahini, 14 of Alam and Shanto bahini, 13 of Sagor bahini, 12 of Khokababu bahini, 12 of Noya bahini, 20 of Janhangir bahini and 15 of Chhoto Raju bahini, sources said.
At yesterday's programme, the home minister thanked the robbers for surrendering to the law enforcers and expressed hope that they will lead normal life as there are a lot of jobs in the country.
"We are committed to check robbery with the help from people in different areas including the Sundarbans," the minister said.
"All the robber gangs in the Bay and the Sundarbans must surrender to the law enforcement agencies as we will continue raids. We are looking for sources of arms and money of the gangs and the government has formed a special task force to check the menace," said Benzir Ahmed, director general of Rab.
Mahbubur Rahman Talukder, lawmaker from Patuakhali-4 (Kalapara-Rangabali), Khan Mosharraf Hossain, chairman for Patuakhali district council, Shiekh Akram Hossain, additional DIG of police (Barisal Range), Basir Uddin, commanding officer of coastguard base station 'Agrojatra', AKM Shamimul Haq Siddiqee, DC of Patuakhali, Md Mosfiqur Rahman, SP of Patuakhali, and Anwar Hossain, a fisherman earlier tortured by robbers in Bagerhat, addressed the programme.