Police arrested Ratan Mia, a close associate of fugitive former MP Ranjit Chandra Sarkar, and former leaseholder of Jadukata Sand Quarry-1 in Tahirpur.
He was taken into police custody by Shah Ali Police under Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) at around 10:45 PM on Wednesday night, after being handed over by an enraged local mob.
The arrestee, Ratan, is the son of Taher Mia of Nonai (formerly Saderkhola) village in Tahirpur, Sunamganj.
Confirming the arrest around 3:00 AM Wednesday night, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Shah Ali Police Station Mohammad Golam Azam said that local agitated residents had captured Ratan and handed him over to police.
OC Abul Kalam of Sunamganj Sadar Model Police Station said Ratan was a named accused in a case filed after August 5. A police team from Sunamganj Sadar Model Police Station had already set out for Dhaka on Wednesday night to bring Ratan back to Sunamganj, where he will be produced before court.
Ratan Mia, owner of Sohag Enterprise, along with Mujibur Rahman Talukdar—son of late Sadek Ali Talukdar of Ghagtia village, treasurer of Sunamganj District Awami League, and former district council member—jointly secured the lease of Jadukata Sand Quarry-1 and 2 for Bengali year 1431 through a syndicate process.
Under the then Awami League government, a syndicate comprising administration, police, the local MP, mayor, contractors, and top district Awami League leaders manipulated the tender process, depriving the state of nearly Tk 45 crore in VAT, income tax, and government revenue. Multiple schedules were bought, but only two bids were submitted with nearly identical prices, ensuring that Sohag Enterprise (Ratan) and Riyan’s Mujibur were selected as top bidders.
Exploiting political influence, the syndicate deployed over a hundred dredgers in the Jadukata River, illegally extracting stones and sand on a massive scale, devastating the river’s environment and ecosystem. State-owned mineral resources worth thousands of crores of taka were looted.
After the fall of the “fascist Awami League regime,” the lease of Jadukata-1 and 2 expired, and the High Court imposed a ban on granting fresh leases for these sand quarries. However, Awami League leader Motaleb, president of the so-called Jadukata Boulder Stone Small Traders Cooperative Society and known as “Paththor Motaleb,” exploited the vacuum.
Locals said Motaleb once ran a roadside tea and betel shop. Later, he became involved in the illegal stone-sand trade under the patronage of Ranjit Chandra Sarkar, amassing property worth over Tk 50 crore. Using political cover, he arranged illicit stone (boulder) smuggling from India through Jadukata’s source points and extracted sand, boulders, and chips using over a hundred dredgers and save machines from government khas land and riverbanks.
The market value of the illegally extracted stockpiles of minerals stands at Tk 100–110 crore, being sold secretly without VAT or income tax. With the administration compromised, Motaleb continues preparing to sell off state-owned resources under the guise of royalty collection.
Ratan’s family members claimed he is a victim of conspiracy and denied any political affiliation.
Attempts to reach Mujibur Rahman (Sunamganj District Awami League treasurer and co-leaseholder of Jadukata Sand Quarry-2) and Motaleb alias “Paththor Motaleb” for comment failed, as repeated calls to their personal phones went unanswered on Wednesday night.
