Five caught over looting stones in Sylhet

Police on Friday night arrested five individuals on charges of stealing stones from Sadapathar area in Companiganj upazila of Sylhet.

Of them, Kamal Mia, 45, Md. Abu Sayeed, 32, and Md. Abul Kalam, 35, were caught from their houses in Companiganj, while Eman Ali, 28, and Jahangir Alam, 35, were nabbed at a checkpoint on the Sylhet-Bholaganj highway as they were transporting crushed stones by truck. The stones and truck were also seized.

Earlier on Friday, a case was filed by an official of the mineral resources directorate against 2,000 unnamed people over taking away stones from the area, said officer-in-charge of Companiganj Police Station Uzayer Al Mahmud Adnan.

According to the case, some miscreants have illegally looted stones worth millions of taka from Bholaganj quarry since 5 August.

BSS adds: A joint force seized on Saturday 250 thousand (2.5 lakh) cubic feet of looted stones during a drive in the Dhupgul area of Sylhet Sadar upazila.

Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Khoshnur Rubaiyat led the drive. With this latest seizure, authorities have confiscated a total of 0.4 million (4 lakh) cubic feet of illegally extracted stones over the past three days from various locations, including Companyganj upazila.

Sylhet Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sher Mahbub Murad said the seized stones would be returned to the Sada Pathar tourist area, from where they were looted.

Meanwhile, separate investigations are underway by the police, intelligence agencies, and the district administration to identify and bring to justice those involved in the plundering of natural stones from the Sada Pathar tourist site.

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