20 stolen cows recovered from BNP leader's brother, brother-in-law’s house in Tahirpur
Sylhet Bureau
Some 20 cows looted in a robbery have been recovered from the houses of the brother and brother-in-law of BNP leader Shamsuddin in Kolagao area, a haor-border village of Uttar Sripur Union in Tahirpur, Sunamganj on Wednesday afternoon.
However, the OC of the police station and the in-charge of the police camp claim they have no knowledge of the incident.
Locals from the haor-border areas of Tahirpur and Moddhanagar upazilas said that on Tuesday, Bahar Uddin, a cattle trader from Koltapara of the same upazila, and his neighbor Zillu Mia from Datiapara village bought 20 cows from Mohishkhola Bazar in Moddhanagar.
While transporting the cows at night by boat, a gang of 25 to 30 masked robbers attacked the boatmen and cattle traders at the dock, beating them up at gunpoint and looted the 20 cows.
After news of the robbery spread, relatives of the cattle traders from Bangalbhita village of Moddhanagar launched a search in the haor area with multiple boats to recover the stolen cows.
During the search, another boatman was beaten by the robbers, and the robbers looted the boat’s fuel tank, handle, and some cash.
Later on Wednesday morning, as the search continued, local residents of the border haor area in Tahirpur reported that late Tuesday night, the stolen cows were taken to Alal’s house in Kolagao Sangsar Para, to the house of Ain Uddin in Kolagao, and to the house of butcher Saikul where they were kept by another Jubo Dal activist named Emran.
Following these leads, 10 cows were recovered from Alal’s house, 6 from Ain Uddin’s house, and 4 from Saikul’s house where Emran had kept them. The cattle traders, who had fallen victim to the robbery, found all 20 stolen cows with the help of locals.
Shamsuddin, the son of late Abdul Gafur of Kolagao border village in Tahirpur upazila, is a rural physician and a recently appointed member of the newly formed BNP upazila convening committee. He is also the leader of a local village stick-wielding gang and reportedly took custody of some of the robbers and all 20 stolen cows.
Among the houses where the cows were recovered—Alal, from whose house 10 cows were recovered, is the brother-in-law (sister's husband) of BNP leader Shamsuddin; Ain Uddin, from whose house 6 cows were recovered, is Shamsuddin’s younger brother; Emran, a Jubo Dal activist, had kept 4 cows at Saikul the butcher’s house—both Emran and Saikul are part of Shamsuddin’s personal stick-wielding gang and followers.
To suppress the incident, Shamsuddin allegedly made the victims sign a document when returning the cows at his pharmacy in Kolagao Bazaar on Wednesday afternoon.
On Wednesday afternoon, Bahar Uddin and Zillu Mia said BNP leader Shamsuddin knows very well who committed the robbery, as all 20 stolen cows were recovered from the houses of his brother, nephew, brother-in-law, and followers. They further stated that Shamsuddin made them sign a document during the return of the cows so that they could not take legal action. When they went to retrieve their cows, Shamsuddin’s nephew Raju, son of his brother Ain Uddin, demanded four lakh taka in extortion.
On Wednesday afternoon, Shamsuddin, son of late Abdul Gafur of Kolagao border village in Tahirpur and member of the newly formed BNP upazila convening committee, said: “The matter has been settled, please do not report this in the media anymore—it will harm my image as I am a candidate for chairman in the upcoming Union Parishad elections.” At one point he said, “No stolen cows were recovered from my brother Ain Uddin’s house. The cows were recovered from the houses of Alal and others.”
On Wednesday, Tahirpur Police Station OC Md. Delwar Hossain and Tekarghat temporary police camp in-charge SI Pankaj Das said: “We have no information about the cattle robbery or from whose houses in Kolagao area the cows were recovered.”
