Administration silent: Bandits return to Sundarbans, forest community insecure

Ajay Bengali

In 2017, during the Sheikh Hasina government, pirates left the Sundarbans due to fear for their lives and forgiving each other, and the Sundarbans were declared pirate-free. But within a few years, pirate gangs have become active again in the Sundarbans.

Immediately after the formation of the Muhammad Yunus government on August 8, 24, due to the weakness of the security system, the banditry gang returned again.

Since then, a new wave of kidnappings and extortions of fishermen, forest workers and even tourists has spread across the forest area. Fishermen are not willing to go to the Sundarbans due to fear of bandits, and many forest workers are changing their professions. This has directly affected the revenue collection of the forest department, which has dropped by less than half.

According to the Forest Department and local sources, incidents of kidnapping and attacks by bandits in the Sundarbans have increased at an alarming rate in the last few months. In the last one month alone, more than fifty fishermen have been kidnapped by various bandit groups. Although some fishermen have been released on ransom, many are still in the custody of bandits.

On January 7, a bandit gang known as the Dayal Bahini attacked and attempted to kidnap fishermen in the area adjacent to Dublarchar. The fishermen resisted, arrested three bandits and handed them over to the Coast Guard, but the next day, 15 fishermen were kidnapped in retaliation. After 17 days, 9 fishermen were released after paying a ransom of about 285,000 taka each. The fishermen who were released after paying the ransom said that they were subjected to terrible torture during the kidnapping.

Another bandit group called Jahangir Bahini recently kidnapped two fishermen from the Tiarchar area of ​​the eastern Sundarbans. The kidnappers’ moneylenders and local fish traders said that the bandits first demand ransom and then kidnap them if they don’t get the money. In many cases, fishermen have to pay regular ransom through bKash to catch fish.

In this situation, fishermen are turning their backs on the Sundarbans. Amrit Bairagi, a fisherman from Chila Union in Mongla, said that earlier they used to go to the Sundarbans without fear, but now due to banditry, many are turning to other professions, including day laborers. According to the forest department, while 478 permits were issued from Chandpai station in February 2024, it has come down to 236 in the same period in 2025.

Not only the jailers, but also the tourists are becoming targets of bandits. The Coast Guard has arrested several bandits, including the main mastermind Masum Mridha, in the kidnapping of tourists visiting the Sundarbans in January this year. Although weapons, bullets and the belongings of the abductees were recovered in the joint operation, locals fear that even after these operations, the bandit activities have not completely stopped.

Meanwhile, the wildlife of the Sundarbans is also at serious risk due to the violence of forest bandits and poachers. Chitral deer and Royal Bengal tigers are now the main targets of hunters and smugglers. Deer are coming to the locality as the water level in the canals decreases in the winter season, and hunters are taking advantage of that opportunity to kill them by trapping them. There are also regular incidents of tigers getting injured in deer hunting traps.

According to the Forest Department, over a lakh traps, illegal weapons and boats have been recovered from the Sundarbans in the past decade, but poaching has not stopped. There are allegations that syndicates linked to forest poachers are smuggling tiger and deer bones, meat, skin and other organs abroad.

Concerned people say that despite the law enforcement operations, it is not enough. Locals complain that due to the lack of surveillance by the administration and some unscrupulous groups, bandits and poachers are returning again and again. This is threatening the biodiversity of the Sundarbans, the livelihoods of forest dwellers, and the state’s revenue.

According to experts, there is no alternative to protecting the Sundarbans except to eliminate forest robbers, stop poaching, conduct coordinated operations, and increase the capacity of the forest department. Otherwise, there is a risk that the robber-free Sundarbans will once again become a sanctuary for criminals.

Jahangirnagar University’s zoology department professor and tiger researcher MA Aziz said, “To protect the Sundarbans, we need to eliminate poachers from the forest. We need to stop poaching of deer, stop fishing with poison in the Sundarbans, increase the capacity of the forest department and the relevant law enforcement agencies need to work together.”