No one to be evicted from Jungle Salimpur ‘for now’: home minister

Salahuddin Ahmed says the government will work on a plan to rehabilitate locals who were forced to settle in the area for one reason or another

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said that none of the people who have settled in Jungle Salimpur will be evicted “for the time being”.

He made the remarks after visiting Jungle Salimpur, which is known as an “impenetrable empire” for criminals in Chattogram.

The home minister said, "The politics of corruption or the corruption of politics over the past 17 years - whichever you call it - has created a corrupt state within a state. Jungle Salimpur is one example of that."

Salahuddin said that plans have been made to provide facilities to the police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and the Army in Jungle Salimpur and to improve its communication system.

At the same time, he said that the locals will not be evicted from location.

"We will make a plan on how to rehabilitate local residents who have been forced to settle here temporarily for one reason or another, or have been rehabilitated for various reasons,” he said. "But none of them will be evicted from here for now.”

Referring to recent attacks in various places over extortion and shootings at the houses of businessmen, the home minister said: "We noticed some criminal activities in Chattogram within a month of taking charge. When they went to the residences of certain businessmen, opened fire on them with sophisticated weapons, and threatened them to collect extortion - we took the matter very seriously. That is when we decided to first destroy their haven."

Referring to the massive operation by the joint forces in the Jungle Salimpur on Mar 9, Salahuddin noted that it did not reach its goals. He speculated that the information on the operation was leaked and the criminals were on the alert.

However, the home minister says that security forces have dismantled the CCTV cameras that criminals had installed and the various measures they were taking to safeguard their occupied territory.

Referring to the vandalism of the joint forces camp late on May 24, he said: "We were surprised that these criminals dared to declare a challenge against the state! Where did they get the courage to dig up these roads, and use pickaxes and bulldozers to demolish an under-construction RAB camp?

However, Salahuddin claimed that those involved in the attack and the occupation of the land have been identified.

Security in the area has been heightened significantly for the home minister’s visit and inspection on Sunday.

A large number of police, RAB, and BGB personnel were deployed in Jungle Salimpur and Alinagar. Police guards were set up at the entrances of various alleys.

Some Laws Will be Amended

Noting that the issues of drugs, terrorism, gambling, and extortion were prioritised, the home minister said: "We will try to eradicate them. To that end, we are making legal reforms."

"The reason is because gambling cannot be controlled through the Gambling Act of 1867. Now gambling, online gambling, offline gambling—various types of moderate gambling and betting have been introduced. We can never address these legally, there is no BIC law, the law is weak. We will try to bring that law up for debate in the next session of parliament. Then we will address these issues within a legal framework.”

An amendment would also be made to the Narcotics Control Act so that a special tribunal can be established, he said. It could handle and settle thousands of drug cases which have been pending for years.

“This is how we can save our country, save the youth,” Salahuddin said.

He also spoke about the need to bring legal reforms to control the “scourge” of youth gangs.

“They are taking advantage of the loopholes in the law, the benefits that juvenile delinquents get. These juveniles who are involved in youth gangs are gradually turning into dangerous criminals. So legal reforms are needed here,” the home minister said.