Illegal stone depots busted in Sylhet's Dhupagul, 4 lakh cubic feet seized
Officials stated that the stones will be restored to the Sada Pathor area, and drives to curb looting will continue.
Numerous illegal stone crusher mills have sprung up in Sylhet's Dhupagul area, effectively serving as fronts for concealing looted white stones from the Sada Pathor-Jaflong area. The piles of rocks were buried under layers of sand and soil to avoid detection.
This afternoon, a task force seized 250,000 cubic feet of stones from crusher mills and houses in Dhupagul. The recovered stones were reportedly looted recently from the tourist spot Sada Pathor and its surroundings.
With this, nearly 400,000 cubic feet of looted stone have been recovered in ongoing drives, local sources confirmed. However, the official estimate is yet to be reported.
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The Dhupagul drive was led by Sylhet Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Khoshnur Rubaiyat. Acting on a tip-off, the task force raided Mohaldik village and the surrounding mills.
Officials stated that the stones will be restored to the Sada Pathor area, and drives to curb looting will continue. Police, army personnel, and officials from the Department of Environment joined the operation.
On the same day, another 2,500 cubic feet of white stone were seized from the Binnakandi area of Fatehpur union in Gowainghat. UNO Ratan Kumar Adhikari led the drive.
Last week, footage of large-scale stone looting spread widely on social and mainstream media. In response, the administration launched recovery operations on 13 August.
In the past two days alone, approximately 100,000 cubic feet of stone were recovered. Yesterday, the Bureau of Mineral Resources filed a case against around 2,000 unidentified persons at the Companiganj Police Station. Five suspects were arrested the same night.
Locals said large-scale looting began after the political change of 5 August last year. Leaders from various political parties allegedly took part in daytime stone lifting using hundreds of boats, also extracting sand from riverbanks.
Investigations revealed the involvement of multiple Awami League leaders and at least 16 BNP leaders. West Islampur Union Chairman and BNP leader Alamgir Hossain has already been arrested, while Companiganj BNP President Shahab Uddin was suspended from the party.
Amid this, the High Court ordered the administration on Thursday to recover and replace looted stones within seven days. The court also directed the submission of a list of individuals involved in the looting.
The writ was filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), represented by Sarwar Ahad. Advocate Manzill Morshed conducted the hearing on behalf of HRPB.
