2000 sued, five arrested over Sylhet stone looting

Police have arrested five people in connection with the looting of stones from Bholaganj stone quarry in Companiganj upazila of Sylhet district.

The arrest were made on Friday night following a case file by Director General (joint secretary) of Bureau of Mineral Development (BMD) Anwarul Habib at night.

Uzayer Al Mahmud Adnan, officer in-charge of Companiganj Police Station, confirmed the arrest news. But their identities could not be revealed.

The large-scale looting of stones caused a nationwide uproar recently, prompting the High Court to issue an order to recover and reinstall the looted stones and submit a list of suspected people involved in it to the court.

Later, joint forces including police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) launched a drive and recovered a total of 1,09,000 cubic feet of looted stones from Jaflong and Sada Pathor areas.

Among these, 40,000 cubic feet of stones were recovered from Narayanganj. Besides, RAB recovered a large volume of stones from Asampur area under Jaintapur Police Station in Sylhet.