Special Correspondent: The Sundarbans in Bangladesh, the world’s largest mangrove forest. After a long time, banditry has increased again in this forest. There are already reports of forest dwellers being kidnapped and ransomed. Local forest dwellers and fishermen have said that a new bandit army has been formed. They have seen them roaming around in different areas of the forest. There are also reports of change of control from one bandit army to another. Forest dwellers and fishermen say that after the surrender of different bands of bandits, the fear of bandits has gone away. Fishermen hunted fish with relief. The lives of people dependent on the forest also came to relief. But bandits have risen again. This has created panic among fishermen and forest dwellers. Fishermen who returned after paying ransom and were rescued from the hands of bandits said that new groups of bandits named Asabur Bahini, Sharif Bahini, Abdullah Bahini, Manjur Bahini, Dayal Bahini have started operating in the Western Sundarbans, which are spread across Koyra and Dakop upazilas of Khulna and Shyamnagar upazilas of Satkhira. After the political change on August 5, prisoners and identified accused who escaped from jails have also started banditry in the Sundarbans. They are taking everything including fish, money, mobile phones from fishermen who go fishing in the Sundarbans. They are even demanding huge extortion from fishermen when they enter the forest. These bandits stay deep in the Sundarbans by boat. They have their hideouts in different areas of the forest. Sometimes they take advantage of the opportunity and take fishing trawlers, fishermen or bandits hostage. After the kidnapping, the bandits take them to their hideouts and torture them. They demand ransom from their families. Many have been released from them by paying ransom. On the other hand, control of the criminal world has changed hands in exchange for money. Although it was in the hands of Majnu Bahini until now, it has been under the control of Alif alias Dayal Baba since mid-April. In this case, a deal of Tk 58 lakh has been made. In exchange for this money, the control of the Sundarbans will be in the hands of the new force for six months. The head of the new force previously worked as the second-in-command of Majnu Bahini. According to the agreement, Majnu has already taken Tk 20 lakh from Dayal Baba. He will receive the remaining money within three months. In the meantime, Majnu has transferred some weapons and ammunition and migrated to a neighboring country. This information has been revealed in the investigation of Jugantar. It is known that many of the pirates and forest robbers who had surrendered to the government by surrendering their weapons and ammunition have returned to their old profession. There are currently nine bandits in the bandit group led by Dayal Baba. Four of these nine surrendered and took special benefits from the government and law enforcement agencies. Among these four, apart from Dayalbaba, the names of Khokababu and Abdullah have been revealed. It is also known that the Dayalbaba Bahini recently kidnapped 15 fishermen from Gabura, Munshiganj, Ramzan Nagar, Koikhali and Ishwaripur unions of Shyamnagar upazila. They have already returned in exchange for ransom. Foresters and fishermen said that in the last three months, at least 20 fishermen and fishermen have been kidnapped from different areas of the Sundarbans. They have been demanded from them for Tk 10,000 to Tk 3 lakh. The Coast Guard, after receiving several complaints, rescued some of the abductees. According to Coast Guard, Forest Department and Police sources, from 2016 to October 2018, 328 bandits from 32 bandit groups in the Sundarbans region surrendered step by step along with 462 weapons and 22,504 ammunition. On November 1, 2018, the Sundarbans, full of biodiversity, was declared bandit-free. However, the kidnapping incidents in the last three months indicate that banditry has once again emerged in the forest. A fisherman who recently returned after paying a ransom said on condition of anonymity that among the few banditry groups currently active in the Sundarbans, the Dayal Bahini is the most brutal. The members of the group break into small groups and attack fishing trawlers, kidnap fishermen and take them to their hideouts. Later, ransom is demanded from the families. If the ransom is not paid, they brutally torture them. They do not hesitate to kill and throw some of them into the river. According to locals, the forest dwellers are in great danger. They have been held hostage by various forces for a long time. During the Awami League government, it was widely rumored that the Sundarbans had become free from bandits. In reality, it was not free from bandits at all. It was said that the bandits who surrendered were still doing the same misdeeds they had done before, avoiding the eyes of the law enforcement agencies. Now, th
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