Sand worth at least Tk 1 crore is extracted from the Padma every day along the Kushtia-Pabna border despite a 2025 High Court ban, suspended leases and repeated enforcement drives.

The illegal operations, allegedly involving political actors, armed groups and locally influential people, are rampant in at least five locations -- the Padma-Garai confluence, Beltala, Shilaidaha Ghat, Kalabagan and Char Tarapur -- according to district officials and traders.

Locals and traders say most extractions take place at night under armed guard, with villagers near the river reportedly alerting operators when outsiders or law enforcers approach. The sand is loaded onto bulk carriers, taken to riverside depots -- known locally as tariamahals -- and then transported by trucks across the country.

Kushtia Deputy Commissioner Md Touhid Bin Hasan said there are no legal sand quarries in the district, while proposals to establish five sand depots (tariamahals) are awaiting approval to store sand that comes in from other parts of the country.

“The biggest challenge was that many people illegally extracted sand under the guise of bringing it to tariahmahals, which is why we had banned tariamahals as well. We have received such complaints and taken action,” he said, adding that law enforcers still face difficulties because the groups involved are armed.

Traders and others familiar with the business estimate that around 350,000 cubic feet of sand is loaded onto at least 50 bulk carriers daily from both the Kushtia and Pabna sides. At roughly Tk 30 per cubic foot, the trade is worth more than Tk 1 crore a day.

A businessperson involved in the trade, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that if sand extraction were legal, at least Tk 4 per cubic foot would have to be paid to the district administration in revenue.

“Accordingly, with 350,000 cubic feet of sand being extracted each day, the administration is losing at least Tk 14 lakh in revenue daily.”

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This sand depot, locally known as Munshipara Ghat, is located a couple of kilometres from Tiktikipara Ghat. During a drive by the Bheramara upazila administration on July 13, pipes attached to a machine at the depot were removed. The machine is used to unload sand from bulkhead vessels and stockpile it at the riverside depot. PHOTO: STAR

No legal lease exists for extraction along the roughly 30-kilometre stretch, with all leases suspended on both sides.

Some yards had earlier been leased under court orders and government policy. In March 2023, however, the High Court ordered a halt to illegal sand extraction from the Padma between Goalanda and Pakshi, a stretch that includes Kushtia. The HC reaffirmed the order in its final judgment in March 2025.

The extraction method is also illegal. Under the Sand Quarry (Balumahal) and Soil Management Act, suction dredging is prohibited in areas vulnerable to erosion and environmental damage.

Contacted, Professor Emeritus Ainun Nishat of Brac University said sand extraction itself is not harmful, but its impact depends on when, where and how much is extracted, as well as the river concerned.

“If they create large scars on the riverbed and shift the flow towards the banks, it will cause riverbank erosion. Similarly, if extraction takes place during the fish breeding season, it could cause ecological damage.”

Over several days in July, The Daily Star visited extraction points and depots and spoke to more than 15 people connected to the trade, as well as locals, journalists, Bangladesh Water Development Board officials and district administration officials.

Their accounts suggest illegal extraction continues openly despite repeated measures.

OLD CRIME, NEW FACES

Those familiar with the trade said illegal extraction expanded during the Awami League government’s tenure, allegedly under the influence of associates and relatives of former Kushtia-3 MP Mahbub Ul Alam Hanif. After the political changeover on August 5, 2024, the operators changed, but the business largely continued.

On the Kushtia side, those allegedly involved include former BNP leader Kazol Mazmader; local journalist Sohel Khandaker; Shishir Molla, son of Kushtia-1 BNP lawmaker Reza Ahmed alias Bachchu Molla; Bheramara Awami League leader Abu Sayed Khan, widely known as a close associate of Hanif; and the Kalu Bahini and Sukhchand-Naharul Bahini armed groups.

On the Pabna side, allegations involve Zakaria Pintu, an expelled former joint general secretary of the district BNP; his brother Mehedi Hasan, an expelled Jubo Dal leader; Ishwardi upazila Jubo Dal Convener Sultan Ali Biswas Tony; and the Billal-Mamtaz Group from Rajshahi’s Bagha upazila.

Multiple sources also alleged that members of the Lakshmikunda river police outpost collect Tk 3,000 for each sand-carrying bulk carrier.

Outpost chief Shafiqul Islam denied the allegation. “The police are not involved in any wrongdoing. In fact, our members were shot in April this year while trying to stop illegal sand extraction in the Padma River in the Haripur area.”

ON THE GROUND

On July 12, this correspondent followed several sand-laden trucks along the Kushtia-Jhenaidah highway. A driver said the sand had come from a ghat in Kaya union of Kumarkhali and was being taken to Jashore.

The next day, posing as a buyer at a riverside depot in Talbaria, Mirpur, the correspondent spoke to traders amid large quantities of sand extracted from the Padma.

“Business is not as good as before. The administration has become stricter. If you want good-quality sand, go to Munshi Ghat,” one said, alleging large-scale extraction near an army riverbank protection project.

At Tiktiki Para and Munshipara ghats, the correspondent saw large sand piles and machines unloading it from bulk heads.

Bheramara Assistant Commissioner (Land) Gazi Ashiq Bahar arrived at Munshipara Ghat following complaints that runoff from illegally stockpiled sand was damaging geobags used for riverbank protection. He said locals had also formed human chains demanding the depot’s removal.

Kushtia Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Abdul Wadud said the administration conducted 142 drives between January and August 12, including 64 mobile court operations. Nineteen people were sentenced to simple imprisonment, two regular cases filed, Tk 39.24 lakh in fines collected, and six excavators and two dump trucks seized.

Yet extraction continues. On July 17, at least seven bulk carriers were seen operating near Haripur at the Padma-Garai confluence.

VIOLENCE AROUND THE TRADE

The business has long been associated with violence. In October 2023, six journalists investigating illegal extraction in Kushtia Sadar were attacked, with the assailants also attempting to sink their speedboat.

In April this year, six people, including five police officers, were injured in an armed attack during a drive in Haripur. The officer-in-charge of the Lakshmikunda river police outpost and four other officers suffered gunshot wounds.

In a November 10 letter last year, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority urged the deputy commissioners and police superintendents of Kushtia, Pabna and Natore to act against illegal sand extraction in the Padma.

It said Molla Traders, which had leased the Diyar Bahadurpur sand quarry in Natore’s Lalpur upazila for Tk 9.6 crore, was the region’s only legal leaseholder at the time, with none in Kushtia or Pabna.

BIWTA alleged that three former leaseholders -- Biswas Enterprise, Shawon Enterprise and Anwarul Haque Masum -- continued extracting sand illegally after their leases expired, depriving the government of substantial revenue. Biswas Enterprise is owned by Sultan Ali Biswas and Shawon Enterprise by Awami League leader Abu Sayed Khan.

Documents show the Diyar Bahadurpur lease has since expired.

Zakaria Pintu denied involvement. “I have no connection whatsoever with the sand trade,” he said, claiming the business from Kushtia to Lalpur and Bagha was largely controlled by the “Kakon Bahini”.

Sultan Ali Biswas and Kazol Mazmader denied any involvement in illegal sand extraction, while Kushtia-1 MP Reza Ahmed dismissed as “100 percent false” allegations that his son, Shishir Molla, was involved in the trade. Abu Sayed Khan declined to comment.

Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said, “While such abuse of political power is neither isolated nor surprising, this shows how deeply entrenched the culture of ‘winner takes all’ is in our political ecosystem.

“The main source of power of those involved in such blatant violations of laws, rules and regulations is their political connections, the same way as it was during the 15 years of the fallen kleptocratic autocracy. Politically sourced power has been normalised as a licence to abuse it without accountability. The only change that has taken place so far since the fall of the ruthlessly corrupt regime is the change of hands, not the practice.”

He added, “It is incumbent upon our political leaders to take responsibility for transforming this self-defeating culture, which is indispensable for accountable governance, the main aspiration of the July Movement.”