Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said that the river dacoits, including Noyon and Piyas, who attacked police members at the newly established outpost in Jamalpur village of Guagachia union of Gajaria upazila of Munshiganj have fled across the border and are no longer in the country.
He warned that if they return, they will be sent to jail without alternative.
The adviser made the remarks on Saturday at 4pm while speaking to journalists after visiting the temporary police camp set up at Jamalpur in Guagachia, a remote area of the upazila
“My home is in Munshiganj, and I know about this river dacoit group. Law enforcement is making the highest effort to recover the weapons looted from the police station that are now in their possession,” he said.
The adviser added: “Today I inspected the temporary police camp. A proposal to make the camp permanent has already been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs. I hope it will become permanent very soon.”
On recovery efforts, he said: “Police are working with sincerity. We have also announced that there will be a reward for anyone who provides information about the looted weapons. The identity of those who provide information will remain confidential.”
For a long time, river dacoit groups led by Noyon, Piyas, Ripon, and Lalu have been engaged in illegal sand trading and extortion from vessels on the Meghna and its tributaries. Several members were killed in internal clashes over the past year.
To control the situation, a temporary police camp was set up on August 22 in Jamalpur village. On August 25, river dacoits attacked police near the camp on the Meghna River, detonating firearms and crude bombs looted from the station.
The following day, Sub-Inspector Azharul Islam Khan of Gajaria police station filed a case naming 20 people, including river dacoit Piyas as the prime accused, and mentioning 25–30 unidentified others.
Police arrested Piyas’s elder brother Ripon Sarkar, 41, of Jamalpur village; Jamil Uddin, 40, of the same village; and Harun Member, 47, of Guagachia. However, none of the main accused have yet been arrested, nor have the weapons been recovered.
