Masud Raihan is a millionaire; he owns six covered vans, a building in the Chittagong city’s Sabujbag area and a store in the posh shopping mall Akhteruzzaman Center.
However, to the police, he is simply known as Don Masud – the linchpin of the port city’s covered van theft operations.
Interestingly, the Chittagong Metropolitan Police has prepared a list of 34 covered van thieves in the city without the names of some influential gang leaders including Don Masud in it.
CMP officials claimed that the local police stations had excluded the alleged criminals from their initial lists of suspects. As a result, the names were not mentioned in the final list prepared by the Detective Branch (DB) of the CMP.
The omitted criminals included the name of Masud Raihan alias Don Masud – who is allegedly the biggest player in the van thieving trade in the port city.
The police, however, said they were updating the list, while the names of a few other thieves – most of whom were also millionaires – would be included in the latest report.
Anwar Hossain, assistant commissioner at the DB, told the Dhaka Tribune that Masud was the linchpin of covered van thieves; however, his name was not included in the list as they had not gotten the name while preparing the list.
“We prepared the list based on the names collected from the local police stations and the local police station had not included his name in the primary list,” he said, adding that names of Masud and other thieves would be included in the CMP list very soon.
However, Halishahar police station Officer-in-Charge Abu Syed Mohammad Shahjahan claimed that he had included Don Masud’s name when he sent a list of covered van thieves to the DB.
DB Assistant Commissioner Anwar said Masud has around 22 cases filed against him with different police stations including Bandar, Halishahar and Pahartoli in the port city, Sitakunda and Mirsarai in the district, and separate cases in Comilla and Jessore as well.
CMP Assistant Commissioner (port circle) Jahangir Alam said they were trying to nab the criminals and gather evidences.
Don Masud’s background
Around ten years ago, Don Masud stepped into the world of crime with the help of covered van theft “pioneer” Pichchi Masud. After working with Pichchi Masud for four years, financial disagreements prompted Don Masud to form his own gang and loot goods-laden covered vans coming out from the Chittagong port.
Through six years of successfully running his gang of thieves, Don Masud has amassed large amounts of money, which he has kept deposited at different banks. His other notable properties include a building and a shop in the city, as well as six covered vans.
Don Masud is currently on the run after being sued in two murder cases.
The CMP list also excludes the names of Don Masud’s gang members including Haidar, Rubel, Chakma Jasim, Javed, Ershadul Islam Badsha, Mahfujur Islam Babul, and Ziaul Haq Zia alias Mukul.
Mukul was recently arrested and later confessed about the killings of Nasir and Khokhon, two former members of Masud’s group who were killed by their leader as they went against him.
The cohorts of Don Masud have also bagged huge amount by looting covered vans and all of them have their own covered van.
Listed covered van thieves
According to the CMP report, Jasim Uddin alias Loha Jasim, 65, who heads the list of covered van thieves, stands accused in six cases lodged with the city’s Bandar, Patenga, Pahartoli and Halishahar police stations.
Refuting the allegation, Jasim however told the Dhaka Tribune that business rivals had intentionally provided false information about him to the police in order to harass him.
Showing audacity, the listed thief said: “I am gaining popularity for free due to this campaign. However, there is no evidence against me.”
DB sources told the Dhaka Tribune that after Don Masud was forced to go into hiding, his mentor – Pichchi Masud – also started to regain dominance in the illegal business with the help of his gang members Showkat, Halim, Belal, Jamal Hossain alias Chasma Jamal, and Koli Madam – the only female covered van thief operating in the port city.
Pichchi Masud – who has been named in the CMP list – is an accused in seven cases lodged with Bandar and Sitakunda police stations. He owns a residential hotel in Mynamati, where he stays with his cohorts most of the time.
CMP’s DB Assistant Commissioner (port) Anwar Hossain said Pichchi Masud was the pioneer of covered van theft in Chittagong and he bagged huge amount of riches through the misdeed.
On a separate note, he said the covered van thieves and robbers used 10 points on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway and three points on the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar Highway to steal covered vans, while they also had their own warehouses to keep the stolen vehicles and looted goods.
The Dhaka-Chittagong Highway’s 10 points are Colonelhat area’s Jones Road and Mayor’s Baganbari adjoining open space in the city, in the district’s Baroiarhat and Mastan Nagar Crossing under Mirsarai upazila, Chowddagram Jagannath Deghir Par, Kalakachua, Feni, Lalpul, Signboard and Jatrabari areas.
Warehouses in Feni, Lalpul, Signboard and Jatrabari are maintained by listed criminal Nabi Sohag alias Nabi Newaj, while the rest of warehouses in Chittagong portion are controlled by Malek alias Lengra Malek who was not blacklisted in the CMP list.
Nabi Sohag has four cases lodged against him with Bandar and Pahartoli police station in connection with stealing covered vans, said Anwar.
Mamunur Rashid, another covered van thief excluded from the CMP list, earned money by selling stolen goods from covered vans as well as working as an informant for the police.
Listed thieves Toyeb, his associates Ledu Majhi and Shah Alam stole covered vans and vehicles’ parts from near Kaptai Rastar Matha, Putia Crossing and Cox’s Bazar area on the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar Highway; the trio also have their parts shops in Kaptai Rastar Matha.
CMP Additional Deputy Commissioner (West) Tanvir Arafat said some ill-motivated covered van owners were also involved with the offence to boost their business and transports.
Other listed criminals – Nur Mohammad, Ibrahim Sowdagor, Titu and Sahabuddin – were involved with stealing fabrics from covered vans laden with garments’ goods. They have their own fabric shops in the city’s Teribazar.
Amir Hossain alias Driver Amin, of Lakhsmipur district, hired drivers and thieves for stealing and made huge amounts by charging large commissions from gang leaders.
Listed criminal Mohammad Biplob, known as Bedi, works as a helper in covered vans and collects information for the thieves. He has built a house and purchased a shop in his locality at Comilla by selling information.
The story, lifestyle and techniques of other listed thieves including Jasim alias Lengra Jasim, Bacchu, Kamal Hossain, Ismail, Mir Hossain alias Sumon Mia, Azad Hossain, Mohammad Irfan, Tula Jashim, Azad, Jahangir Alam alias Babu, Mohammad Ali and Jasim are almost same.
All of them are accused in cases lodged with different police stations in the port city, while they all own covered vans, buildings and bundles of money in their bank accounts. Every one of them were influential in their localities and had their own lawyers to do the legal fighting for them, said DB Inspector Mohammad Badrujjaman.