Civic volunteer among five held for Rs 1-crore robbery
The Statesman | 14 August 2025
In a bizarre crime that has exposed the dark underbelly of India’s lucrative human hair export trade, a truck laden with 1,500 kg of hair worth nearly Rs 1 crore was hijacked in Nadia district, its driver abducted, and the precious cargo siphoned off.
Police have arrested five men, including a civic volunteer, and identified an 18-year-old dropout with a history of violent crime as the mastermind.
The consignment—comprising around 30 gunny bags of hair—was on its way from Hyderabad to Beldanga in Murshidabad, where 14 traders planned to process and export it to Istanbul, Bangladesh, Myanmar and other markets. Human hair, processed into wigs and other products, brings handsome profits to exporters and sustains a wide network of jobs.
Police said the accused, identified as Chairuddin Sheikh, Hasibul Sheikh, Mosharaf Halsana (a civic volunteer), Mohammad Rani Sheikh, and Kamaluddin Sheikh, were picked up from different locations in Nadia and Murshidabad over two days. All were produced in the Krishnagar district judge’s court, which remanded them in police custody for three days.
The alleged ringleader, Rani Sheikh, left school a few years ago and reportedly took to dacoity and robbery. He had earlier been accused in a heist case in Jharkhand. Acting on an intelligence input, police nabbed him late Monday from Dhubulia.
The truck began its journey in Hyderabad and had nearly reached Shalimar when it came under the gang’s surveillance. It was later hijacked, and the driver abducted to Shantipur. By early Sunday morning, the vehicle had been driven to Bholadanga in Nakashipara, where the hair sacks were unloaded. The abandoned truck was found at Jugpur roadside.
The loot was split between Chairuddin Sheikh’s residence and a godown belonging to Mosharaf Halsana. Acting on tip-offs and CCTV footage, police traced the chain of events. Suspicion deepened when two unusually light gunny bags were spotted outside a police source’s home in Haridrapota and similar bags found in Bholadanga.
Investigators suspect the motive may have been rooted in rivalry among traders—possibly to fabricate a robbery story, pressure the transporter for extra payment, and still retain the goods for illicit profit. However, the plan unravelled as police closed in.
Additional superintendent of police Meet Kumar told reporters: “We have arrested five people, including a civic volunteer. The investigation is continuing.”
The case has created a stir in the region, where the high-value hair trade is little known to the public but forms a quiet backbone of export-linked livelihoods.