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Plunderers feast on rainforest

Gang controls whole area to make money out of illegal logging

MORSHED All Khan, back from Kolenka. Srimangal
Remoteness of Kalenga rainforest has prompted a local gang, with the backing of foresters, to terrorise villagers and plunder the age-old rainforest.
Sudden exposure of the situation in Kalenga by The Daily Star has driven this gang to impose restrictions on the sole private guesthouse of the area. According to sources in Kalenga, outsiders cannot rent the guesthouse without their "permission".
On our arrival, we asked for a forest guide but could not find anyone. The forest office sent to us one who, according to insiders, is an active member of the same band of criminals. Anyone in Kalenga denouncing the gang end up being assaulted and sued under the forest laws. The cases are framed by the gang members and are filed by the local forest
office.
A young man of the village, who agreed to show us the house of Abdur Rashid, a victim of assault after he protested theft of trees, was chased in our presence on the main thoroughfare and badly roughed up. The young man's only fault was to cooperate with the press.
The goons, during our presence in Kalenga, held impromptu meetings with villagers warning them of dire consequences if they cooperated with the press.
"People were warned that they would be evicted from their homes if they opened their mouth to anyone," said a resident insisting his name not be mentioned.
The free rein given to the gang in this remote forest area has resulted in hundreds of cases, mostly false, filed over the years charging innocent people with forest related offences. According to Chairman of the Ranigaon Union Nurul
Munim Chowdhury, most of these cases implicating hundreds of innocent people in his constituency are absolutely baseless.
"In my constituency I have hundreds of people being charged with violating forest laws but I never heard of anyone being convicted. Most of these cases are framed by the very goons who plunder the rainforest," said Nurul Munim Chowdhury, who has been the chairman of the area for nearly seven years.
"There are instances in which the foresters implicated several dead men in cases filed in connection with stealing trees from the forest. The whole process of forest related cases has become a laughing stock in our area," he said.
The former’ chairman of the same union Abu Saleh Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman also corroborated Nurul Munim Chowdhury's statement and said the FROM PAGE 16
forest area is virtually under the grip ofa dozen men.
The names of the gang members, which came up again and again during our stay in Kalenga include Nurullah, Swapan, Alauddin, Belial, Jashim, Khalil and Shahadat.
According to Bangalee and Tripri villagers, Kalenga and adjacent areas almost never receive any visitors during rainy season when road communication is virtually cut off. A handful of visitors who come here during the dry season are mostly photographers, nature lovers, scientists and researchers.
"During rainy season, illegal logging is at its peak and these goons are extremely busy making money. With the press coming now they suddenly feel threatened and have become desperate," said a resident of Kalenga.