Shahidul Islam entered the criminal underworld through theft and robbery before expanding into drug trafficking and building his own armed gang. Once known as the leader of a juvenile gang, he is now one of Chattogram’s most notorious armed criminals. He faces 23 cases involving illegal firearms, extortion, drug trafficking and other offences.

His name appears on a Special Branch (SB) list of “shooters” operating in Chattogram Metropolitan. However, a Prothom Alo investigation has found that many others accused of leading armed gangs, openly displaying firearms and carrying out shootings are absent from the police list.

The investigation identified at least 139 armed criminals across Chattogram city and seven districts of Chattogram Division (excluding the three hill districts and Cox’s Bazar) whose names do not appear on police records. Of them, at least 85 are in Chattogram city alone, despite the police list containing only nine shooters for the metropolitan area.

Overall, police have listed 109 shooters across Chattogram city and the seven districts. That means the investigation uncovered more armed offenders outside the list than those included on it, raising questions about the completeness and effectiveness of the police database.