STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Rapid Action Battalion claimed to have arrested four members of an inter-district gang that steals garment consignments from vans going to Chattogram port.

Besides, law enforcers recovered 457 cartons of exportable garments, worth Tk 4 crore, from Cumilla.

They also seized a covered van during a drive at Cumilla’s Beltoli area on Wednesday night.

The arrestees are members of a gang led by one Md Sirajul. He was arrested in a similar drive in Narayanganj on August 14 last year, with 41 sacks and 506 cartons of garments, said Mozammel Haque, commanding officer of Rab-4, at a press conference yesterday. Sirajul got out of jail three months ago on bail and again started stealing the items.

On information, a Rab team launched the latest drive and arrested the four -- Md Himel alias Dulal, Abul Kalam, Mohsin Ali alias Babu, and Md Al Amin.

Three to four other gang members managed to flee, he added.

“The arrestees admitted that sometimes, they loot whole covered vans full of exportable garments,” claimed Mozammel.

Narrating the gang’s strategy, the official said the criminals first build rapport with covered-van drivers. Then they convince the drivers to be part of the plan, saying that money would be shared among everyone.

The persuaded drivers then park their vans in a secluded area on Dhaka-Chattogram highway, as instructed by the gang. After that, the criminals take apart the vans’ side, without damaging the padlock, and steal cartons of goods.

After taking the goods out, they again seal the cartons, filling them with jute and garment by-products, and put them back into the vans. Finally, they fix the side and send the vehicles to their destination. They do this so that weight machines at the port cannot detect the theft.

Later on, the criminals sell the goods in the local market quickly, as the demand for exportable garments is high, Mozammel added.