Bagerhat: Detectives in a drive arrested three alleged members of an inter-district cattle theft syndicate, including its suspected kingpin from different parts of Bagerhat and Khulna districts. The arrestees were identified as Arif Molla, 38, a kingpin of the syndicate and son of Dhanu Molla of Terokhada upazila in Khulna district, Imran Sheikh, 27, son of Abu Sayed Sheikh of Fakirhat upazila, and Nahid Sheikh, 27, son of Shukur Sheikh of Rampal upazila in Bagerhat district.

According to United News of Bangladesh, police also recovered 11 stolen cattle and a truck used in the crimes during raids, said Hasan Mohammad Naser Rikabdar, Superintendent of Bagerhat Police while speaking at a press briefing on Thursday. Tipped off, a team of DB police conducted separate drives in Fakirhat and Rampal upazilas and arrested two people on Wednesday night. Following the confessional statement of them, police conducted a drive at Katenga village in Terokhada upazila and arrested Arif early Thursday. Later, police recovered 11 cattle from the house of Arif, said police.

The market value of the recovered cattle is worth around Tk 10 lakh. The syndicate has at least 50 members who allegedly lift cattle from different parts of the country, transport them by truck or pickup van and later sell them at cattle markets, said SP Hasan Naser. All the arrestees were wanted in a number of criminal cases, he said. However, drives are underway to arrest other members of the gang, he added.