Gang violence: Another man killed in Geneva camp

Another man was killed in a crude bomb attack amid fighting between two armed groups for control over Geneva Camp in the capital’s Mohammadpur early yesterday.
This marks the fifth killing in the camp since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government on August 5. Known as the Bihari Camp, it houses stranded Pakistanis who migrated to the then East Pakistan from the Indian state of Bihar during the partition of 1947.
The latest incident occurred around 3:00am yesterday, shortly after news spread of the arrest of Bhuiyan Sohel, also known as Buniya Sohel.
Hearing the news of Sohel’s arrest, followers of Chua Selim attempted to seize control of the camp, leading to fresh clashes, said locals and police.
The deceased has been identified as Raja, 28, a member of Sohel’s group, according to police.
Ali Iftekhar Hasan, officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur Police Station, said, “After Buniya Sohel was arrested, his rival Chua Selim attempted to take control of the entire area. However, Buniya Sohel’s supporters resisted, leading to a clash between the two groups.”
He added that during the clash, both sides exchanged gunfire and threw crude bombs in an attempt to overpower each other. Raja was killed on the spot by an explosion of crude bombs.
His body was sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College morgue for an autopsy.
The OC said that they have been conducting regular drives and patrolling the camp area.
“We even conducted a drive in Sector 7 of the camp from 11:00pm to 1:00am on Thursday night. However, the clash broke out around 3:00am shortly after we left,” he said.
Following the incident, a joint force, including the army and the Rab, conducted raids in the camp early yesterday morning. Several people were detained for interrogation.
The Rab arrested Sohel, 30, and 11 of his associates during operations in Sylhet’s Kotwali and Habiganj’s Madhabpur areas on Thursday.
The other arrestees are Amir Hossain Hira, 30, Jamal Hossain, 29, Shahinur Begum, 32, Anwar Hossain, 27, Md Mithun, 24, Sahil, 38, Naeem, 24, Md Azim, 37, Noor Begum, 30, Bhanu Begum, 31, and Sakib Hasan, 20.
“For a long time, Buniya Sohel’s gang has been involved in criminal activities, including robbery, extortion, abduction, drug trafficking, and sexual violence in and around Mohammadpur’s Geneva Camp,” said a Rab press release.
Sohel faces 18 cases across the capital, including on murder and illegal arms possession charges, according to the release.
The camp and its adjoining areas have recently become a hotspot of criminal activities such as gunfights, mugging, drug peddling, and murders.
Since August 6, the day after Hasina fled the country, five people, including a 13-year-old teenager, have been killed in multiple gunfights between the rival armed gangs.
Police and locals say gunfights have been taking place inside the camp almost every day as rival groups are fighting to control the drug sale spots. Many criminals are using firearms looted from Mohammadpur Police Station during the mass uprising.
Residents of Mohammadpur said they were living in constant fear.
Ishtiaq Ahmed, a notorious drug dealer, once controlled the sale of marijuana and yaba in the camp. After his death three years ago, rival groups emerged, including the Bhuiyan Sohel group, which began selling heroin in 2022.
When the Imtiaz group entered the heroin trade in April, two rival alliances were created — Bhuiyan Sohel and Syedpuriya Babu on one side, and Molla Arshad, Chua Selim, and Imtiaz on the other.
Each group has 20-25 armed members, and clashes often involve sharp weapons, bricks and crude bombs. But they have been using firearms since the fall of the government, locals said.