Before entering Garibullah Para in Raozan, drivers of CNG-run vehicles have to consider a few things: who are the passengers? Which house are they going to? What is the name of the person they know? That is because along the way, two seperate groups of armed criminals stop vehicles and search both drivers and passengers.
It was in Bhandari Colony in this neighbourhood that Manik Abdullah, a Jubo Dal activist who had returned from abroad, was shot dead inside his own home on the night of 19 April last year. His family left the house afterward.
Although some neighbours recognised several of the killers, they do not want to reveal their names. One person said, “Speaking out here means inviting trouble for yourself.”
It is not only Garibullah Para. Jubo Dal leader Md. Selim was shot dead in front of his wife and children at Ishan Bhatter Hat; Masudul Haque Chowdhury was killed in broad daylight in front of hundreds of people at Pahartali Chowmuhani Bazar; and Mohammad Ibrahim and Alamgir Alam were shot dead in Gazipara and West Raozan, respectively. All the victims were involved in Jubo Dal politics.
Although the locations of the killings were different, the methods were almost identical. Gunmen arrived on motorcycles or CNG-powered auto-rickshaws and opened fire in public. They then fled through hilly routes. What remained behind were bodies, families forced to leave their homes, and witnesses who fell silent. The control of the area would then gradually change hands.
According to figures found by Prothom Alo in its investigation, at least 26 people have been killed in Raozan since August 5, 2024, through June this year. More than 350 people were injured in over a hundred incidents of gunfire and clashes.
At least 16 of the killings were found to have links to political rivalries. Even after the BNP government took office last February, six killings took place in Raozan.
Field visits found that killings here are not merely a means of eliminating political opponents.
They have also become a tool for extortion in markets, control of sand quarries, the construction-materials trade, and establishing territorial dominance. These interests have created an invisible system of rule and a culture of fear in Raozan. As a resident of Noapara put it, “People here are like subjects. The terrorists are the kings.”
Raozan is about 40 kilometers from Chattogram city. The Halda River lies to the west, the Karnaphuli to the south, and the hills of Rangunia and the Chattogram Hill Tracts to the east. The combination of rivers, hills and major roads has given criminal groups multiple routes to escape after carrying out attacks.
Recently, two Prothom Alo reporters visited 15 locations in Raozan where killings had taken place, starting from Garibullah Para. They spoke with local residents, relatives of victims, businesspeople, CNG drivers and police officers in Pahartali Chowmuhani, Ishan Bhatter Hat and Ashraf Shah’s shrine in Kadalpur, Gazipara in Raozan Sadar Union, the municipal area, Olimiar Hat, East Guzra, Madunaghat and Noapara.
In addition, Prothom Alo interviewed eight individuals who either had past links with these armed groups or were familiar with their operations. They said that the criminal networks based in Raozan are not confined to the area alone; rather, they are also involved in various violent incidents in nearby regions as well as in Chattogram city. Among the names that came up most frequently in this context was Mohammad Raihan, who is widely identified as a key figure in these activities.
The ‘search neighborhood’
Three CNG-powered auto-rickshaw drivers from Raozan told Prothom Alo that they had been searched in Garibullah Para. They were also subjected to verbal abuse simply for going there. One of them said, “Even when I took passengers there, I was afraid. Both sides would stop us. If you gave the wrong person’s name, you were in trouble.”
According to local sources, two groups have been involved in a longstanding dispute over political control and extortion in the neighbourhood. One group was led by Jubo Dal leader Arafat Mamun, who wants to contest for chairman of Bagowan Union Parishad. Jubo Dal activist Manik Abdullah, who had returned from abroad, had emerged as an obstacle to strengthening Mamun’s political position.
Arafat Mamun was arrested on 4 March last year in connection with the murder of businessman Jahangir Alam. The following month, Manik Abdullah was killed.
Many law enforcement officials and local residents believe that Mamun’s followers were involved in Manik’s murder.
Conversations with Jahangir Alam, who lives next door to Manik’s house, and several others made it clear that fear had not subsided in the area even after the killing. Manik’s family has left the house, which now stands empty.
When reporters visited the abandoned house, someone shouted, “Who’s there? Who’s there?” from a nearby makeshift shelter. A young man then came out and spoke to the Prothom Alo reporters. He identified himself as Hridoy Ahmed, also known as Shawon, and said he was working for Mamun’s release. He had also been arrested in an extortion case and was released on bail a few days ago.
Shawon claimed that Manik was a bad person and that this was why he was killed. However, he said, Mamun had no involvement in the killing. After Manik’s death, control of southern Raozan shifted to the Jasim group, he claimed.
Manik’s younger brother Sakil Ahmed said that on 26 March, 2010, their elder brother, Jubo Dal activist Rashedul Islam, was pulled out of a vehicle, hacked and shot dead.
Sakil said, “Fifteen years ago, one of my brothers was killed by Awami League people. This time, another brother—Manik—was killed by people from his own party.”
Control changes hands after killings
According to local residents, during the interim government period, control of the sand quarries and construction-materials trade centered around the Karnaphuli was in the hands of BNP leader Abdul Hakim.
He was known to be close to BNP Vice Chairman Gias Uddin Quader Chowdhury. A faction led by Haji Mohammad Jasim, who identified himself as a BNP leader, was seeking to take control of those businesses.
On 7 October, 2025, Hakim was shot while traveling in a moving vehicle in Madunaghat, Hathazari, on his way back from Raozan. According to local sources, Manik, who had been killed earlier, was close to Jasim. Jasim’s name surfaced in connection with Hakim’s murder.
Jasim subsequently left the country again.
A faction of his followers remains active in several areas of southern Raozan, including Noapara. In Bagowan, however, Mamun’s followers have greater dominance.
As Mamun is in jail and Jasim is absconding, it was not possible to obtain comments from either of them.
Killed after a meeting with RAB
On 13 June, Masudul Haque Chowdhury, senior joint convener of the Rangunia upazila unit of Jubo Dal, was shot dead in broad daylight at the crowded Chowmuhani Bazar in Pahartali.
Mahmudul Haque, a 72-year-old pharmacy owner who witnessed the killing, said, “They came shooting and left shooting. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”
People close to the deceased Masud said that shortly before the killing, he had met with members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) at Carbon Restaurant, about 40–50 meters from the scene.
Muhit Kaiser, an employee of the restaurant, told Prothom Alo that five people, including Masud, left after the meeting. The RAB members had already left. Five to 10 minutes later, Masud was shot.
Police said the gunmen were identified from CCTV footage. Three of them were carrying pistols and two had shotguns. The killers were followers of criminal figure Mohammad Raihan.
Masud’s elder brother, Peyarul Haque Chowdhury, is a former chairman of Betagi Union Parishad in Rangunia. According to the family, Masud had also been preparing to contest the next election for union chairman.
Police suspect that the killing may have stemmed from a dispute over political dominance as well as control of the sand trade.
Killed in public, family seeks justice from God
On 6 July, 2025, gunmen wearing burqas shot dead Md. Selim, member secretary of the local Jubo Dal unit, at Ishan Bhatter Hat in Kadolpur.
Witnesses said that after the killing, the gunmen fled toward the hills, passing by Ashraf Shah’s shrine.
There is now a police checkpoint beside the shrine. But local residents have yet to regain their sense of security. Shahjahan, a tea-stall owner there, told Prothom Alo, “People are scared. Police, RAB and the army need to conduct joint operations. Otherwise, this won’t stop.”
Local residents said the name of Jubo Dal activist Nasir Uddin surfaced in connection with Selim’s murder. Nasir himself had been facing around five cases. Nine months after Selim’s killing, on 26 April this year, Nasir was also shot dead in the same area.
Two days after Selim’s murder, his friend Didar, 30, was taken to a hilly area of Kaukhali in Rangamati and strangled to death. His family, however, did not file a case. Didar’s mother, Bachu Akhter, told Prothom Alo, “What would be the point of filing a case? Nothing will happen. We don’t even have the money to pursue a case. So we have left the matter to Allah’s judgment.”
Criminal Control Reaches Home Construction and Building Materials Trade
The criminal groups’ control is not limited to politics and markets. Residents of Kadolpur and surrounding areas said that in some places, homeowners have to hire construction workers and buy bricks, sand and cement from designated individuals. Bringing in workers or construction materials from outside is met with resistance. As a result, homeowners have to pay more than the market rate.
Criminals demanded Tk 2.5 million from an expatriate resident of Noapara while he was building a house. He eventually stopped construction and returned abroad. His relatives said he has not returned to Bangladesh because he fears for his safety.
To understand how construction work is controlled, Prothom Alo reporters visited a brick kiln in Harpara, in the Urkirchar area of Raozan.
Sajeeb Das, the kiln manager, said, “There are problems in some areas where one group has exclusive control. We take the money upfront. That way, we don’t face any problems.”
This makes it clear that, to keep their businesses running, suppliers of construction materials also have to reach understandings with those who control particular areas.
Such control has also led to killings. On 22 April, 2025, Jubo Dal activist Mohammad Ibrahim was shot dead in Gazipara of Raozan Sadar Union following a dispute over the construction-materials trade. His uncle, Abdul Halim, is president of the union unit of Swechchhasebak Dal. Several residents have alleged that criminal figure Raihan was involved in the killing.
We live with our lives on the line
Eight armed men were hiding in the overgrown bushes of an old cemetery beside Kaykobad Jame Mosque in West Raozan, within Raozan municipality. On their way back from a meal at a relative’s house, they shot dead Jubo Dal activist Alamgir Alam. Alamgir had been in prison during the Awami League government. After the change of power, he returned to the area and became politically active again.
Police and local sources say the killing may have been linked to a dispute over political dominance and to armed men close to the notorious criminal Raihan.
Raihan has used a photograph of himself with Member of Parliament Gias Uddin Quader Chowdhury as his Facebook cover photo.
Asked about the photograph, Gias Uddin Quader told Prothom Alo, “What can’t be done with AI these days?” However, after using five image-authentication tools, Prothom Alo found that the photograph was not generated using AI.
On 25 February this year, Jubo Dal activist Abdul Majid was shot dead in broad daylight at Olimiar Hat. The scene of the killing was about 500 meters from the East Guzra police investigation center.
Majid’s elder brother, Abdul Aziz, said his brother had a dispute with a group over the leasing of the market. After the killing, the family was threatened with having their house burned down. In his words, “Our brother died, and now we are in danger too. We are living in constant fear for our lives.”
The family alleges that when they went to the police station to file a general diary over the threats, the police refused to accept it. Although three people have been named in the murder case, the unidentified gunmen have neither been identified nor arrested.
Majid’s wife, Shahnaz Begum, said her husband had been attacked before. He survived that attack, but was killed this time.
Earlier, on 5 January, Jubo Dal leader Mohammad Jane Alam was shot dead by gunmen who arrived on a motorcycle near the same market. According to local residents, after returning to the area following 17 years away, he had become active in politics and local affairs. He was also the general secretary of a mosque.
Neighbour Md. Ibrahim said Jane Alam had gained influence among local residents after returning to the area after such a long absence.
Several local sources alleged that political rivals had hired gunmen to kill him by paying them. However, it was also learned that Jane Alam had been named in a case involving gunfire at an expatriate’s home and extortion.
Four decades of violence for control
The violence currently gripping Raozan is not new. According to elderly residents and political sources, political conflict intensified in the mid-1980s amid a rivalry between the family of BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and followers of Awami League leader Abdullah Al Harun. Local residents said many people were killed during that period.
Around 1995–96, armed groups would openly display their weapons in various areas. Politically backed groups even controlled who could enter which areas.
After 2009, then Awami League Member of Parliament ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury established absolute control over Raozan.
Local elections, markets, leases and businesses, as well as the criminal underworld, all came under the control of Fazle Karim and his party cadres. He drove not only opposition leaders and activists but also dissenting leaders and activists within his own party out of the area.
After the Awami League government fell on 5 August, 2024, following the mass uprising, that absolute control collapsed. BNP and affiliated-organisation leaders and activists who had been forced out of the area for years returned. At the same time, some old criminals emerged from prison or returned from hiding and became active under new political identities.
Two leaders’ rivalry spreads from neighborhood to neighbourhood
Raozan BNP politics is now largely divided between the followers of two leaders. One faction is aligned with local Member of Parliament Gias Uddin Quader Chowdhury. The other is aligned with BNP Chairperson’s Adviser and former convener of Chattogram North District BNP Golam Akbar Khondkar.
The rivalry between the two factions has spread to unions, markets and neighborhoods. Their followers are confronting one another over local election candidacies, control of markets and sand quarries, and the supply of construction materials. According to local residents, Golam Akbar’s followers are now on the defensive in the area.
In a major clash between the two factions last July, more than 50 people, including Golam Akbar, were injured. BNP subsequently dissolved the Chattogram North District convening committee and suspended Gias Quader from his party post. Cases were filed against 129 BNP, Jubo Dal and Chhatra Dal leaders and activists identified as his followers over the clashes.
In a letter sent on 29 July last year by BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Gias Quader was accused of encouraging intra-party violence and conflict and of establishing a “reign of terror” in the area. Earlier, in a show-cause notice issued by the party on 5 November, 2024, five specific allegations were brought against him.
The notice accused him of compiling lists of wealthy businessmen and extorting millions of taka from them, demanding Tk 15 million from Oman-based businessman Yasin and setting his house on fire, and demanding Tk 10 million from businessman Md. Forkan and torturing him.
It also accused him of creating fear in Raozan by hiring criminals after returning from abroad and of expressing a lack of confidence in the central leadership over the formation of party committees.
Gias Quader denied the allegations. He told Prothom Alo that he had never encouraged or supported intra-party conflict, killings or criminal activities. He said his political rivals had made the allegations against him.
He claimed that within 48 hours of the allegations being made, one of the businessmen concerned had issued a statement saying that he had no acquaintance or contact with Gias Quader.
Gias Uddin Quader Chowdhury also claimed that he had never called or lobbied the police on behalf of any criminal. He said that whenever he received complaints of extortion, he instructed the police to take action. According to him, terrorism in Raozan was the result of the failure of law enforcement agencies to play their proper role.
Golam Akbar Khondkar, meanwhile, said, “There is no question of factions when it comes to crime and killings in Raozan. Everything happening now is being carried out by Gias Uddin Quader Chowdhury’s people.” He said the killings were linked to control over land, extortion, and the supply of earth and sand, adding that an investigation into who collects the money and where it ultimately goes would reveal the truth.
Law enforcement is there, but there's no trust
Local residents complain that although cases are filed and some arrests are made after killings, investigations do not go deep enough to identify the sources of the weapons, financiers, planners and those providing shelter to the perpetrators.
A local resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “The police do not go after those behind the murders. That is why one incident follows another.”
Police say several criminals—including Md. Raihan, Mobarak Hossain alias Imon, Md. Kader and Dhama Ilias, who are associates of fugitive criminal Sazzad Ali Khan—are involved in extortion and work as contract killers. The gunmen involved in several incidents have been identified. Operations are being conducted in both the hills and the plains.
Chattogram District Police Superintendent Md. Masud Alam said the criminals flee into the neighboring hills after committing crimes. He said most incidents stem from disputes over territorial dominance and control of the sand business.
The police superintendent said, “The criminals may possess heavy weapons. We are making every effort to arrest them, including using drones to locate them.” He also said that checkpoints and patrols had been increased to reduce fear among residents.
However, relatives of those killed say the situation will not change simply by arresting those who directly participated in the killings. Those providing money, information, weapons and political protection must also be brought under the law.
From one end of Raozan to the other, what is most striking is the silence.
Even when killings take place in broad daylight in markets, shopkeepers say they saw nothing. When reporters visit the homes of victims, male family members stay out of sight. Women speak from behind closed doors. Some are afraid to file cases; others have lost hope even after filing them. Some families have left the area altogether.
Sakhawat Hossain, former chairman of the Department of Criminology at the University of Chittagong, told Prothom Alo that the criminalization of politics is playing a major role in the situation in Raozan. Two factions of the same political party are confronting each other to establish dominance. There is a tendency in politics to reward those who can mobilise manpower, control territory or suppress rivals. As a result, known criminals are also receiving political protection.
He said that not only the criminals but also those providing them with political protection and assistance must be brought under the law.