Ill-equipped Sundarbans Forest Division insecure

3 April 2009, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent, Khulna

Recurrent incidents of robbery, arms looting and abduction by robbers of the Sundarbans and pirates of coastal belts leave four ranges under Sundarbans Forest Division (SFD) highly vulnerable. The question of security for forest officials and employees while performing their duties has come to the forefront after March 31 incident when criminals looted two arms and kidnapped a forest guard from Dobeki patrol outpost located near the Sun-darbans. Seventy-two patrol outposts under four ranges of East and West wings of Sundarbans Forest Division are now run by 1,171 officials and employees including around 200 forest guards. Only four or fewer guards man each of the outposts while most of them are armed with outdated and dysfunctional 303 rifles. Only a few forest guards use Chinese rifles. It is too difficult and risky for forest guards to face criminals equipped with modern arms, said Md Shahidullah, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO -- East Wing) of Sundarbans Forest Division comprising most vulnerable Sharankhola and Chandpai ranges. In 2005, criminals looted four arms from forest guards on duty at Dublarchar near the Bay of Bengal. On January 16 in 2006, criminals looted three arms and 183 bullets from Haldibunia Patrol outpost in the deep forest. Criminals in connivance with poachers of deer looted two Chinese rifles and 80 bullets from Dobeki forest outpost and kidnapped forest guard Zahiruddin on March 31. Combing operations by police, coast guards and forest guards has continued in the forest to recover the looted arms and rescue the guard, said DFO (West Wing) Aboni Bhusan Thakur.