As the campaign against drugs has increased in Cox’s Bazar and Chakaria, crimes like theft and robbery have increased in parallel. The criminals who were under the political umbrella of the previous Awami League government have changed their shells and are now mostly BNP-League. Recently, several robberies and shrimp zone-centric The incident of 35 buffaloes looted from the shrimp zone of Rampur in Saharbil Union of Matamuhuri Upazila being released in exchange for money is worrying. These buffaloes were looted from a shrimp enclosure in Rampur in Saharbil Union of the upazila at around 11 pm on Friday, September 4. The miscreants looted 35 buffaloes belonging to five owners by holding the herders hostage.

The buffalo owners said that they released these buffaloes after taking a ransom of 20 thousand taka under pressure from local BNP leaders. Similarly, there are numerous incidents including the rescue of 34 buffaloes of Rafiq Saudagar of Malum Ghat for 3 lakh taka under the mediation of former MP Zafar Alam in 2024. According to local sources, in the last one year, 400 buffaloes have been looted in the same manner from Chakaria and Matamuhuri areas in the same manner. Although half of the buffaloes were released from the hands of the gang after taking a ransom, the identified criminals remain at large.

The farmers were forced to settle the matter under various pressures. But no one wants to open their mouths out of fear. The owners of the 35 buffaloes looted last Friday night are residents of Khaspara village in ward number 7 of Dhemushiya union. They are – Harun Or Rashid, Mosaddek Hossain, Chaber Ahmed, Bahadur and M. Rahman. According to the relevant sources, the farmers’ 35 buffaloes were next to sluice gate number 7 in the 11-acre Chingrigh area of Rampur. Last Friday around 11 pm, 10-12 miscreants took the herdsmen hostage at gunpoint. Later, the buffaloes were taken to the Katakhali area of Malumghat union in a motor-driven boat.

After much searching, the owners found the buffaloes on Saturday, September 5 at noon. Hundreds of people gathered in the Katakhali area at that time. Local sources said that the farmers complained to local BNP leaders about this. Under their pressure, the miscreants released the buffaloes. According to a source, they had to pay 20 thousand taka in exchange for releasing the buffaloes. The miscreants also stipulated that they would not file any complaint with the police station at this time. According to the buffalo owners Mosaddek, Chaber, Harun, Bahadur and Rahman, their herders take the buffalo herd to a specific place in the paraban in the Gher area every day.

After roaming around all day, they return to the designated farm at night. The farm employees had tied up the buffaloes on Friday night. Around 11 pm, 10-12 terrorists took them hostage and took away 35 buffaloes. The buffalo owners claim that they do not know any of these terrorists. Several farm owners, who did not want to be named, said that there are more than a hundred members in this gang. They demand extortion. If they do not pay, they come at night and take away the buffaloes. According to Abul Kashem, a shrimp farmer, the terrorist group is led by Aju Khan and Ahmed Hossain from Reserve Para in Malumghat Union and at least 30-40 notorious terrorists from Palakata, Sawdagarghona and Charandwip in Chichinga Union. Who are now sheltering some BNP leaders. They are fugitives in several cases including murder and robbery. However, as soon as night falls, they roam around the shrimp enclosure area in groups.

This group includes more than a hundred people from Charandwip and Sawdagarghona in Chiringa Union, Katakhali in Reserve Para in Malumghat Union, Ulubonia in Dulahazara Union and Koralkhali in Saharbil Union. A responsible leader of the Matamuhuri organizational upazila BNP, on condition of anonymity, said that the terrorist group has been roaming in the shrimp enclosure area since the previous government’s rule. They collect a ransom of 1,000 to 1,500 taka per person from the enclosure. When they do not receive this ransom, they loot the fish, nets, sheep and buffaloes raised in the enclosure. Those who are leading these terrorist activities remain in hiding. However, unknown terrorists are in the field. A leader of the Upazila Shrimp Enclosure Owners’ Association alleged that shrimp farmers are helpless due to the torture, extortion and looting of buffalo and sheep by terrorists who come at night.

Due to the hostile behavior of nature, most of the farmers have not been able to withdraw the capital invested in the enclosure this season. In the meantime, such a nuisance is going on. According to him, the OC of Chakaria police station had assured in the Upazila Law and Order Committee meeting that police camps would be set up in the surrounding areas and boats would be arranged for the safety of the farmers. But this has not been done yet. Two local politicians who own buffalo farms claim that miscreants have looted about 400 buffaloes from different areas of Chakaria and Matamuhuri in a year.

They have released about half of the buffaloes after collecting ransom. The miscreants slaughtered more than half of the buffaloes and smuggled the meat to various places. The farmers were forced to settle under various pressures. That is why they do not want to open their mouths out of fear. Because, farmers do not file cases on these issues. For this reason, they do not have information about how many looting incidents have occurred in the past year. The Chakaria and Matamuhuri Upazila Livestock Departments do not have this specific information either. Chakaria Livestock Officer (in charge of two upazilas) Dr. Arif Uddin said that buffalo farmers in the coastal areas are in fear of robbers and thieves.

Due to this, their interest in raising buffaloes is decreasing day by day. Chakaria Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Arifur Rahman told this reporter yesterday afternoon that he had heard about the buffalo looting. However, none of the victims have complained to the police station. The police are trying to identify the criminals. He also said that a drive will be launched to arrest them.