Four arrested in Barlekha over 'Jinni Hujur' fraud that took more than five bhori of gold

Police in Barlekha, Moulvibazar, have arrested four members of an alleged fraud ring accused of taking more than five bhori of gold ornaments from a housewife by promising, in the name of a 'Jinni Hujur', to cure her sick son. All of the victim's missing gold ornaments were recovered during the operation.

The arrested are Karbul Nesa, 60, of Ahmadpur village and Taj Uddin, 45, of Hinainagar village in Barlekha upazila, and Bijoy Baidya, 48, of Amtail village and Ripon Mia, 38, of Harirampur village in Juri upazila. They were arrested on Sunday (November 1) in separate raids in the Barlekha and Juri police station areas.

Superintendent of Police Md Monirul Islam gave the information in a press release sent on Monday (November 2) from the media cell of the Moulvibazar superintendent of police's office.

According to police, on August 3 an unidentified woman phoned Rokeya Begum of Hinainagar village in Barlekha and told her that a Jinni Hujur could cure her sick son. She said certain conditions had to be followed and the matter could not be told to anyone, warning that her son would be harmed if she told anyone.

Hoping for her son's recovery, Rokeya Begum placed gold ornaments in a bowl on the manhole cover of a deep tube-well behind her house. A few hours later she went there and found the ornaments gone. When she phoned the woman, she was told that 'Jinni Mumin' had taken them, that her son would recover within a month and that she would get the ornaments back.

A few days later, on October 16, the same woman phoned again and asked Rokeya Begum to place more gold ornaments at the same place. She was threatened that her son would go mad if she did not, and assured that if she did, all the ornaments including the earlier ones would be returned within an hour. Fearing harm to her son, she placed gold ornaments a second time.

When those were not returned either, she lodged a complaint at the police station on the advice of relatives. Police said that in two rounds the ring took gold ornaments weighing a total of 5 bhori 6 ana 2 roti 2 point, with an estimated value of Tk 11,74,712.

Later, with the help of information technology and intelligence information, a police team led by the case's investigating officer SI Sheikh Kamrul Islam, ASI Prosen Kanti Das and ASI Santosh Kumar Biswas carried out raids. Karbul Nesa and Taj Uddin were first arrested from the Ahmadpur and Hinainagar areas of Barlekha. Based on information from them, raids in the Juri police station area led to the arrests of Bijoy Baidya and Ripon Mia.

All the gold ornaments — one sitahar necklace, two pairs of jhumka earrings and one ring — were recovered from the arrested persons' custody. The victim came to the police station herself and identified the recovered ornaments.

On the basis of the victim's complaint, a case was filed at Barlekha police station on November 1 under sections 406, 420 and 34 of the Penal Code. The four arrested persons have been sent to court. Barlekha police station officer-in-charge Md Moniruzzaman Khan confirmed the incident and said, 'After the case was filed against the arrested persons, they were sent to court.'