Chanpara: A haven for drug lords, criminals

After gaining independence in 1971, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman took many welfare initiatives in the war-torn country. One of these is the rehabilitation of brave freedom fighters. One such rehabilitation center is Chanpara Rehabilitation Center at Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj, which is near the capital. 

It was expected that the settlement built over a large area would become blessed with the footsteps of the brave soldiers of the liberation war, crippled and infirm freedom fighters and veterans and their next generation. But on August 15, 1975, when Bangabandhu was killed along with his family, the rehabilitation center also lost its glory. Since then, criminal activities started in Chanpara. In the last few decades, it has become a crime hotspot. Locals say that there is no crime that does not happen there! The sun sets here bringing smiles to the faces of criminals. 

The first thing that comes to mind after hearing the name, Chanpara, is a haven for criminals, not a rehabilitation center. Criminals here are reckless. People say the law enforcement forces compromise with the criminals here. However, the settlement built on 126 acres of land just 18 kilometers away from Dhaka city was supposed to become a real rehabilitation center. But it has become a center of criminals! Drug marketing center!

This Chanpara Rehabilitation Center is located in Kayetpara Union of Rupganj Upazila of Narayanganj, near the estuary of Shitalakshya and Balu rivers. Over 1.5 lakh people live in thousands of small huts in the center. According to locals, most of the residents are more or less drug dealers.

There are no heinous activities such as drug-related gambling, extortion, theft, or robbery that are not happening here. Several murders are also reported every year. Ar least, 23 people were murdered in four decades. But the actual statistics is more terrible!

It is the most densely populated area of Rupganj Upazila. Most people are floating and poor. As a result, terrorists and drug dealers have easily established a base here.

Recently, this reporter visited the rehabilitation center for a few days and explored the area. Roads and shops are deserted of people during the day. An eerie silence prevails throughout the area. But as evening approaches, the scene changes. As soon as the neon lights of the street light up, Chanpara wakes up with a different face.

People start coming from different places. Most of them are drug addicts or drug buyers. These outsiders are entertained well here. Generally, tea is served at chairs or tools in tea stalls all over the country, but these drug buyers of Chanpara are allowed to sit on mats in a special way. Although tea shops have tea kettles and biscuits in one corner, they are just an eyewash! Inside these shops, shutters are partially opened or closed to keep a soft light-dark system inside.

Various types of drugs are served in such an environment. Ten to 15 people sit and consume drugs in each shop. Some are taken to the bank of the Shitalakhya. There is also drug consumption on the moving boats. This goes on all night. 

As the light of dawn begins to emerge, the exotic drug buyers and users leave the area. During the daytime, the entire Chanpara is filled with unusual desolation! There are more than one thousand specially-built establishments to trade and consume drugs in Chanpara.

An unannounced ‍‍`curfew‍‍` is imposed by the drug dealers in Chanpara. Locals interact with outsiders. A local young man said anonymously that the day begins when the sun sets in Chanpara. That is when the drug spree starts and lasts till then fag end of the night. Apart from the shack tea shops, there are also drug dealers in the guise of hawkers. The shops sell Yaba pills. The hawkers here sell cannabis and heroin. Children and teenagers act as drug carriers. Many women also sell drugs in a special way.

The Chanpara Rehabilitation Center has many ways in and out. As a result, if the police enter it from one side, the drug addicts can easily escape through another side. The people here are mostly daily labourers, rickshaw pullers, van pullers, hawkers and garment factory workers. 
The number of drug dealers, professional killers, robbers, doping gang members is not very high here.  As a result, no one comes here except drug addicts or people hiring criminals.

Chanpara is open for drug users, sellers and businesses. Members of the administration or law enforcement agencies do not visit it very often.
Rupganj Police Station OC AFM Sayed said admitted that the area is a haven for drug dealers and buyers. 
“A police team raids the area every day, which is packed with huts. Before we reach the crime scene, the drug peddlers flee through the river route,” he said.

“Nearly 2 lakh people live here, making it tough to conduct raids successfully,” he said.

“Even we take 200-300 policemen in some raids, the slum dwellers form a shield with their women and men. When we enter the neighborhood, they get naked and rush towards us. Not only that they create many other obstacles too,” the OC said. 

Stating that they continue raids to arrest criminals there, he said they are committed to eradicating drugs from the area.

When contacted, Rupganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Faisal Haque said that there is no chance to deny that Chanpara slum is a den for drug abusers and criminals.  

Anti-drug operations will be intensified there soon, he concluded.