A dispute over land and extortion demands in Pangsha, Rajbari, culminated in severe vandalism and the poisoning of a commercial fish farm owned by an expatriate worker. Following a formal complaint lodged by the victim, local police arrested Kalam Mondal, the General Secretary of Ward No. 5 BNP in Pangsha, in connection with the attack.
The incident occurred late on Tuesday night, 6 October 2026, targeting a fisheries project located in Nibhakeshtopur village under Yoshai Union. The farm belongs to Asad Mondal, who recently returned to Bangladesh after working as a manual labourer in Singapore for nearly seventeen years. He invested his life savings into building the venture. The victim’s family reported that the toxic chemicals dumped into the ponds wiped out the entire stock, resulting in estimated financial losses between 500,000 and 600,000 Taka.
Trouble escalated earlier that day when a group led by Abdul Mannan Pramanik, President of Yoshai Union Ward No. 5 BNP, and Kalam Mondal allegedly demanded extortion money from the expatriate. When Asad refused to comply, the suspects along with hired outsiders forcibly entered the premises, destroyed boundary walls, tore down barbed-wire fencing, and looted around fifty bunches of bananas from the surrounding orchard. Although police inspected the damaged site after the morning assault, the perpetrators reportedly issued death threats before returning under the cover of darkness to poison the water.
Family members described months of systematic intimidation. Asad’s father, Mohammad Ali Mondal, stated that local political operatives had repeatedly targeted his family because two of his sons worked abroad. The suspects escalated their threats on Tuesday morning, explicitly warning that they would kill off the fish stock if the demanded sums were not paid.
Law enforcement authorities confirmed the destruction at the site following an immediate physical inspection. Sanjay Kumar Ghosh, Inspector (Investigation) at Pangsha Model Police Station, confirmed that police verified the damage to the boundary walls and fencing alongside the mass death of the fish stock. Based on the initial investigation and the victim’s written complaint, officers arrested Kalam Mondal during a subsequent raid. Police operations remain ongoing to identify and apprehend the remaining suspects involved in the extortion and sabotage.
