Not your regular meat sellers

Md Mamun is a butcher by profession who runs a meat shop in the Kadamtali area of the capital.

On the surface, he appears to be a legitimate businessman selling meat to the locals. However, lurking behind his shop are cowsheds where he keeps cows.

But here's the catch: Mamun doesn't raise cows or buy them from the market. Instead, he shelters and patronises a gang of thieves who steal cows from farmers in different parts of the country and hand them over to Mamun.

And Mamun is not alone.

Other meat sellers, including Jubair and Al-Amin, also have similar stories. This cow theft syndicate, led by a thief named Jakir Hossain, has been stealing cows for over a decade and has managed to build a network across the country.

The law enforcers have been after them for a long time. Police recently made a breakthrough in their investigation when they recovered a stolen cow from Jakir's gang at the Gabtoli animal market in the capital.

They also had syndicate members in the big cattle markets. Butchers like Mamun paid an advance amount of Tk 50,000 to Tk 75,000 to the gang for stealing cows. The price of the stolen cow was then fixed, depending on its size and weight, with the gang charging Tk 20,000 to Tk 40,000 less than the market price.

Following this, the Lalbagh division of the Detective Branch (DB) conducted a successful operation and arrested Jakir and eight other members of the gang, including two butchers recently. During the operation, the police also recovered five stolen cows from the gang's Kadamtali cowshed.

The investigation revealed that the gang had a widespread network and conducted operations using their own intelligence team. They also had syndicate members in the big cattle markets across the country. Butchers like Mamun paid an advance amount of Tk 50,000 to Tk 75,000 to the gang for stealing cows. The price of the stolen cow was then fixed, depending on its size and weight, with the gang charging Tk 20,000 to Tk 40,000 less than the market price.

Jakir would contact the butchers soon after a cow was stolen from a cowshed, and the cow would be handed over to the highest price-giving butcher. The gang operated quickly, taking only five to eight minutes to steal a cow, and were well-trained in the art.

They also collected fake tax receipts from syndicate members in the cattle market to show if they were stopped by law enforcement.

The gang operated in three groups to steal cows from the market. One group kept an eye on people buying big cows, another group watched for abandoned cows, while the third group acted as buyers and sellers to fool the market authorities.

DC Mashiur Rahman of the Lalbagh division police confirmed to The Daily Star yesterday that the gang had stolen at least 3,000 cows in the last ten years.

While Jakir is the leader of the gang, the masterminds behind the operation are the butchers themselves.

The police are now conducting a drive to arrest the absconding butchers, Mamun and Sohel, he added.