Cops ‘break barricade’ of self-isolated Mro village in Bandarban, arrest 2 over theft

Policemen, reportedly influenced by an alleged land grabber, this morning broke the fence a remote Mro community village had put up to isolate the community in Bandarban's Lama upazila.

The law enforcers also arrested two villagers including the village chief (locally known as Para Karbari) on charge of theft, reports our Bandarban correspondent.

The villagers alleged that five policemen from Lama Police Station including Md Mainuddin, a sub-inspector of the station, entered their village after breaking the lockdown fence (locally known as Khasur) which they had put up on March 27 for community-wide isolation to prevent spread of coronavirus.

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The arrestees were identified as Langkom Mro, 48, karbari of Langkom Mro Para, and Ring Rong Mro, 50, a resident of the village.

"We arrested them as they have stolen some acacia trees from the garden of one Meridian Agro Limited," said Md Mizanur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Lama Police Station.

Regarding the allegation of breaking the lockdown fence, the OC said, "I have no idea about this. You may contact SI Mainuddin to know the details."

Contacted, SI Mainuddin denied the allegation of breaking the fence.

"On March 29, a case was filed against eight villagers of Dekichhara Mro Para, including five to six unknown persons, who were accused of stealing some acacia trees from a garden of Meridian Agro Limited," SI Mainuddin said.

According to the case statement, the accused on March 20 had destroyed around 250 acacia trees on March 20 and stole about 150 of those. Our correspondent has acquired a copy of the case statement.

Prennowi Mro, a local of Dekichhara Para, said "No one leaves the villages during this community-wide isolation, and no one from outside is allowed to enter the villages, but police today broke the Khasur [bamboo fencing] of our Para and picked up two innocent villagers."

"Meridian Agro Limited had grabbed our jhum land and when we protested they filed a fabricated case against us," alleged Prennowi Mro, who is also an accused in the same case.

When contacted, Mehedi Hasan, manager of Meridian Agro Limited, denied the allegation of grabbing jhum land.

"We didn't grab any jhum land rather the villagers stole our trees," he said.

"It is unfortunate that anyone including police breaks the Khasur. It is a traditional practice among the hill people to lockdown their villages and ensure safety of the people during any epidemic," said Sing Young Mro, a Mro author.