Criminals rule vast areas of Sundarbans

Unarmed forest guards in West Zone fail to stop armed gangs of robbers, illegal loggers, poachers
From The Daily Star
Equipped with only sticks, the forest guards of the West Division of the Sundarbans have been engaged in a war against armed robbers, poachers and illegal loggers for the last five years.
The government withdrew their firearms and ammunition in 2005 after three firearms were robbed of the Neelkamol forest beat office. Since then, the protectors of the forest have no firearms.
Generally, there are at least four firearms including 0.303 rifles and shotguns at every forest beat office.
Taking advantage of the innocuous forest guards, organised robbers and poachers have taken control of a vast area of the Sundarbans, plundering resources of the world’s largest mangrove forest.
People living in and around the Sundarbans, forest officials and fishermen from Khulna region say that the entire Sundarbans is now controlled by at least three large gangs of criminals who kill deer every day for food and also send venison to influential people as gift.
They say deer poaching and illegal logging have increased dangerously in the Sundarbans in recent times, which is a sign of forest guards losing the war.
The robbers extort money from fishing trawlers and loggers and often by taking them hostage.
Razu’s gang, consisted of 40 to 50 armed criminals, control the “protected” area of the Sundarbans in East and West divisions.
The upper part of the Sundarbans is controlled by Julfikar’s gang and the northern part of the West Division by Boro Bhai’s gang.
“It has a chain reaction. If the robbers continue to kill deer, the tiger would face food shortage and come out in the locality,” said a forest official who recently visited the Sundarbans to do research on tigers.
“If we cannot save the tiger and deer the entire Sundarbans will be at risk of destruction,” he said requesting not to be named.
Foresters and researchers say the resources of the Sundarbans including 53 species of trees, 248 species of birds, 58 species of mammals and 55 species of reptiles would be at stake if the government does not take proper steps.
The researcher during his visit to the Sundarbans had met Razu’s gang on the Aar Pangashia river. The gang stopped his boat and asked him to step on to theirs.
He said he found them well equipped. They had batteries, mobile phone chargers and rechargeable lights on their boat. They were cooking venison and offered him soft drinks and apples, he said.
He said they did not take anything from him. They admitted that they eat venison every day and also send it to different influential people in the city through fishermen as gift.
Besides taking toll from fishermen, they also use them to transport batteries and other items they need.
The robbers are out of control now, as they know there are no firearms in the beat offices, the researcher said. Even the foresters do not stay at many beat offices, which were severely damaged by cyclones Sidr and Aila.
The robbers and poachers are killing deer at an alarming rate, he said.
The situation is so bad now that venison is readily available in Banshtola in Kalirchar for only Tk 150 per kilogram, newspapers reported.
It has also been reported that brick kiln owners are nowadays using Sundari wood to bake bricks in Zianagar, Bhandaria, Shawrupkathi upazila in Pirojpur and Barisal.
The researcher said during his visit he heard that the robbers had killed three tigers.
He said he had asked the Razu gang not to kill tigers and deer and the gang members told him on the boat that they would not kill tigers.
According to official sources, cyclone Sidr destroyed 126 offices and residential buildings and damaged 93 offices and residential buildings of Sharankhola and Chandpai ranges under the east wing of the Sundarbans Forest Division.
The storm also damaged 59 vessels and 21 jetties owned by the forest department, which rendered a number of forest offices shorn of logistic support, a forest official said.
The government is yet to take any measure to repair the damaged offices and re-establish transport facilities.
Eminent tiger expert Khasru Chowdhury who visited the Sundarbans recently told The Daily Star that he did not see any armed guards at Hongso Raj, Kopilmuni, Tiarchar, Bhromorkhali and Dobiki beat offices in the West Division.
State Minister for Environment and Forest Hasan Mahmud said, “Soon we will launch a joint drive against the robbers.”
The government is going to take up some development projects in the Sundarbans and a Bangladesh-India joint campaign to save the mangrove forest is also in hand, the minister said.
Chief Conservator of Forest Abdul Motaleb told The Daily Star that very soon forest guards across the country would be trained and given better firearms.