Long time conflict and rivalry between two groups of smugglers might be the reason behind the double killing of uncle and nephew in bordering Moheshpur upazila in Jhenaidah, said the police sources in Moheshpur. They have been saying the rivals had gunned down Mantu Mandal, 50, and his nephew Shamimul Islam, 35, of village Baghadanga in the border belt. The police could not detain any one even after 48 hours of the killing incident.
Locals and the policemen in Moheshpur said a section of the people of bordering Baghdanga village are more or less known as smugglers and lead their lives with the heinous profession for decades together.
There was a longtime rivalry between smuggler Tarikul group and Mantu Mandal and his nephew Shamimul Islam group. The border guard Bangladesh personnel on Wednesday morning had grilled a smuggler Romin Hossasin, 20, son of Hazrat Ali of village Matia in same bordering upazila with 40 gold bars weighting 4,665 grams. Primarily estimated cost of the bars was over Taka four crore six lakh.
Mantu Mandal, 50, and his nephew Shamimul Islam were killed by their village rival also a smuggler Tarikul Islam, when Rimon Hossain, son of Hazrat Ali of village Matia in same bordering upazila was held by the border guard personnel with 40 gold bars worth taka over four crore in the morning of Wednesday. Both Mantu Mandal and Shamimul were blaming Tarikul for the arrest incident of Rimon Hossain. Shamimul and his elder brother Rafiqul Islam and Mantu Mandal were locked in quarrel with Tarikul following the matter. They got united and conducted an attack on Tarikuls house. To refrain them from the vandalize of the house, Tarikul advised them to leave the spot at no delay. As they did not care, Tarikul opened shots on them that killed Mantu Mandal and his nephew Shamimul Islam. When the media activists visited the house of Tarikul, his wife Josna Khatun said she was not informed about her husband as he left the house immediate after the incident on Wednesday evening. Locals said at least 10 Bagladeshi men, especially the cattle traders were gunned down by the border security forces (BSF) of India in last 20 years when they had illegally entered in to Indian territory to bring cattle heads. The recent incidents of smuggling of golden ornament or gold bars are seized by the law enforcers, especially the BGB from the bordering area alarming, sources said. BGB sources said, they had seized 304 gold bars weighting 38.4 kilogram between January and December last year. The price of the seized ornaments and bars was at least Taka 27 crore. They (BGB) had filed 12 cases during the time, BGB sources said. Moheshpur police station officer in charge (OC) Mahbubur Rahman when contacted said Shamimul’s elder brother Rafikul Islam had filed a case with five persons of the village including prime accused Tarikul Islam on Thursday. Since then, the law enforcers were hunting to grill the killers involved with double murder. OC said rivalry between Tarikul and Shamim or his uncle Mantu was a long-time matter which was open to all. Both Mantu and Shamim were infamous as smuggler and engaged in clash frequently following a trifling matter.
