Covered Van Loaded with Dried Fish Hijacked at Knifepoint in Feni: Four Arrested in Jamalpur, 160 Sacks Recovered

Police have arrested four people over the hijacking at knifepoint of a covered van loaded with dried fish in Feni, on its way from Chattogram to Narayanganj. The covered van was recovered from Cumilla three days after the hijacking, and 160 sacks of dried fish were recovered from Jamalpur four days later. The recovered dried fish is worth about Tk 4 million.

The information was given in a press release sent by Feni district police on Thursday (5 November).

Police said that on 31 October at around 10pm, businessman Shyamal Das (38) bought dried fish from Samia Traders at Asadganj Shutkipatti in Chattogram and set off for Narayanganj in a covered van bearing the number Dhaka Metro-D-14-7942. Driver Arif Hossain (28) was with him.

At around 1:45am on 1 November, when they reached the opposite side of Jatrisiddhi Jamiatus Sunnah Madrasa on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway in the Lalpool area of Feni Sadar upazila, they were waylaid. Three men got down from a black microbus and boarded the covered van carrying large knives.

The hijackers beat driver Arif Hossain. They then held knives to the throats of the businessman and the driver, threatened to kill them, and tied their hands, feet and mouths. They snatched Tk 14,000 in cash, two mobile phones and wallets from them, dumped them in the jungle beside the highway, and fled towards Dhaka with the dried-fish-laden covered van.

After a case was filed over the incident, three teams of Feni district police raided various areas including Noakhali, Chandpur, Cumilla and Dhaka.

On 3 November at 10:10pm, the covered van was recovered in an abandoned state from under an under-construction flyover on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway in Cumilla Sadar Dakshin thana area.

A police team later raided Jamalpur. At around 4am on 4 November, four people were arrested from the Sharifpur area of Jamalpur Sadar upazila on charges of involvement in the incident. The arrested men are Md Monir Hossain (45), Md Akhtar Hossain (32), Md Babul (28) and Md Nadim (24).

Sajal Kanti Das, Inspector (Investigation) of Feni Model Thana, said information about the whereabouts of the hijacked dried fish was obtained by interrogating the arrested men. Following their directions, 160 sacks of dried fish were recovered from in front of a cold storage in Sharifpur Union of Jamalpur Sadar upazila. The covered van had earlier been recovered from Cumilla. A truck and a motorcycle used in the hijacking have also been seized.

He said the arrested men have been sent to jail through the court. Of the 173 sacks of dried fish hijacked, 160 sacks have been recovered. Operations are continuing to recover the remaining goods and arrest other members of the gang.

In preliminary interrogation, the arrested men told police that they are active members of an inter-district hijacking gang. For a long time, they had been intercepting goods-carrying vehicles on highways in various districts of the country using various tactics and hijacking the goods.