Madhupur forest now a den of criminals

3 bodies recovered in last 7 days
Madhupur forest has turned into a safe haven for criminals where people don’t dare to come out of their homes even during daylight hours and tourists often fall victim to muggers and hoodlums.
Madhupur police have recovered three bodies including those of a couple from the forest in the last seven days.
Several bands of criminals including robbers, hoodlums, hijackers and forest plunderers have been active in the forest in recent times.
Decomposed bodies of Khalilur Rahman, 35, of Harindhara village at Muktagachha in Mymensingh and his wife Minara Begum, 25, were recovered from the deep forest at Uchitkhartuna under Madhupur National Park Sadar Range Friday last.
Earlier on Monday, police recovered the body of one woman, Nupur, 23, of Uttara in Dhaka from Telki area in the forest. Later two murder cases were filed with Madhupur Police Station.
Tourists at several picnic spots in Madhupur National Park come under attacks of hoodlums and hijackers and lose everything, sources said.
Officials and guards at the forest department in Madhupur also feel insecure in the forest. They never move around the forest alone and without guns as some of them also fell victim to hoodlums and hijackers, said forest guard Liton Miah.
Several desolate places from Kakraid to Rasulpur on the Tangail-Mymensingh road are very risky for bus passengers as bus robbery at these spots is an everyday event.
Robbers at those spots rob people and they disappear into the dense forest in the wink of an eye, sources said.
A gang of robbers killed an indigenous woman, Basanti Magsang, a teacher by profession, during a bus robbery a few months back, they said.
After the incident, a police check post was set up on the road at Pachismile which is inadequate on a stretch of seven-kilometre road that runs alongside the deep forest, said Soren Simsang of Beribaid area.
When contacted, Humayun Kabir, officer-in-charge of Madhupur Police Station, told The Daily Star that they had been trying their best to keep the forest areas secure.
A 24-hour police patrol was arranged from Kakraid to Rashulpur on the Tangail-Mymensingh road to curb robbery, he said.
“More officers and constables are required at the police station as only 20 cops are not enough to maintain law and order in an upazila like Madhupur,” he added.

Courtesy of The Daily Star