Outlaw dons call shots from India
Jogoti Union unit Jubo League president Zafar Ahmed went missing on July 25 last year. As his family started a frantic search for him, his uncle received a phone call from India the next day.
"You don't need to look for Zafar anymore; go back home and get ready for his burial," said the caller as quoted by one of Zafar's friends.
The caller was none but Shahin, second-in-command of outlawed Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF).
The traumatised family decided to file a general diary with the local police and sent two members to the nearby police station.
When they were hardly 100 yards from the police station, they received another call from the same Indian number. The caller, as if he had been observing them from a nearby watchtower, said," You are just 100 yards from the police station and are going to file a GD.
"If you file any case or a GD, I'll kill you as well as Zafar's father this time. Whatever you do I'll surely know as I have 260 paid informers there," the caller threatened.
The victim's family members knew it was not an idle threat and retreated instantly. They later considered themselves 'fortunate' to find Zafar's body in a water body a few kilometres from their village next week.
During the phone conversations Shahin said they gave "death penalty" to Zafar two years ago at their self-styled court on charge of helping police arrest a bodyguard of GMF boss Aminul Islam Mukul.
Zafar's friend was talking about the horror at a restaurant in Bottoil on the outskirts of the town. Suddenly he sensed a waiter "spying" on him and whispered to this correspondent, "Leave the place immediately. The waiter might be a paid agent of Mukul-Shahin. We'll be in trouble then."
The network of different active outlawed outfits in 10 southwestern districts, especially in Kushtia, Jhenidah, Chuadanga and Meherpur, is very strong. Sources say their men have infiltrated every place -- from remote villages to government offices and from roadside restaurants to police stations.
The armed cadres of these outlawed groups have long been engaged in murder, drugs trafficking, robbery, extortion, abduction and controlling tenders.
The people in the region have often witnessed murder of sons and rape of daughters before parents and burning of people alive in the blaze of brick kilns. After committing a murder the outlaws even dumped sliced parts of the bodies in the victims' houses and sometimes the severed limbs in front of government offices. For this brutal works they have separate killing groups.
Not less than 285 people were killed in the 10 southwest districts this year, most of them at the hands of rival groups. The slide in law and order prompted the government to crack down on the outlaws on August 22 and since then 62 were killed in 'shootouts'.
The death toll in so-called shootouts increased significantly since the crackdown as only 11 suspected outlaws died in that manner earlier this year.
The law and order also marks significant improvement, but people are still frightened as kingpins of the outlawed groups are still at large.
According to Rapid Action Battalion, thirteen factions of armed communist groups and as many gangs named after the ringleaders concerned are operating in 23 districts of Khulna, Rajshahi, Dhaka and Barisal divisions.
A dangerous situation prevails in Kushtia, Chuadanga, Meherpur and Jhenidah where JSD Gonobahini, GMF and Biplabi Communist Party, Red Flag faction of Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-M-L) are active.
Abdur Rashid Malitha alias Dada Tapan-led Janajuddha faction of PBCP was also a strong group in the region but has weakened after the arrest and death of Tapan and his second-in-command.
Rab says these outlawed groups possess a huge number of firearms including sophisticated M16 and AK47 rifles, but no-one knows exactly how many weapons they have.
UNWRITTEN LAW
To win a tender bid, contractors must give at least 15 percent of the project money to the outlaws in the southwestern region where it has become an unwritten law.
"It doesn't matter who you are or which party you belong to. You must give them at least 15 percent of the project money three months prior to a tender process to win the bid," says a construction contractor in Kushtia wishing anonymity.
Sources say the tender bids are awarded after talks between outlawed party chiefs and some local influential ruling party leaders. In return, the political party leaders also get a certain percentage of the project money, the sources add.
Allegations are rife that district Awami League General Secretary Azgor Ali and sadar Jubo League Organising Secretary Mominur Rahman Momiz visited India a couple of months ago to meet GMF top leaders Mukul and Shahin.
It is alleged the objective of the meeting was to settle tender for Tk 18 crore development projects of Roads & Highways Department.
Momiz and his partners have recently won a Tk 2.8 crore tender bid as no-one else dared to compete, sources say.
Contacted, Azgor and Momiz denied all the allegations and claimed they had gone to India on treatment purpose.
Momiz initially denied winning any tender for an RHD project but later admitted that his partner Sarwar got a Tk 2.8 crore work order.
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