A joint force operation was conducted again in the remote hills of Teknaf on Saturday to search for suspected human trafficking hideouts and reports of bodies left in the area. Still, no bodies were found after several kilometres of searching, police said.
The operation began around 7:30am in the hilly areas of Leda and Rangikhali under Hnila union, with more than 150 personnel from the Army, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Special Reserve Police (SRP) and police taking part under the leadership of the Army’s 10 Infantry Division.
Mohammad Ali, acting chairman of Hnila Union Parishad, who accompanied the operation, said the joint forces searched the remote hills behind the Leda and Rangikhali Rohingya camps from the morning but found no bodies.
Various utensils and equipment used for cooking were recovered from suspected hideouts of the trafficking gang during the operation, officials said.
The fresh operation came two days after a joint force raid on the same hills on Thursday, when 56 people were rescued from a suspected human trafficking compound, and six alleged members of the gang were detained.
During Thursday’s operation, the joint forces came under fire from armed members of the trafficking gang, triggering an exchange of gunfire. Army soldier Mohammad Titas Sheikh, 27, was shot dead during the incident.
Titas was buried at his village home in Nagarkanda, Faridpur, on Friday evening with state honours following military formalities.
Teknaf Model Police Station handed over the rescued people to their family members on Friday night. Six of them were Rohingyas, and 50 were Bangladeshi nationals.
Following the operation, reports emerged that three bodies were lying in the remote hills. A rescued victim, Shahidul Islam, told journalists that several people may have been killed during the gunfight and that he had seen three bodies near the detention compound.
However, he could not say whether the bodies belonged to members of the trafficking gang or victims who might have escaped from the compound.
Cox’s Bazar Superintendent of Police Sazedur Rahman said police had received information about three bodies lying in the Leda-Rangikhali hills but had not been able to locate any bodies despite the search.
“We received information that three bodies were lying in the remote hills of Leda and Rangikhali following the incident involving the human trafficking gang and the joint forces. However, no bodies have been found so far,” he said.
He said joint operations and intelligence surveillance would continue until the activities of the trafficking gangs were brought under control.
The rescued victims also described how they were allegedly deceived and held captive by the trafficking gang.
Asaduzzaman, one of those rescued, said he was brought to Cox’s Bazar after being offered a job and was later confined to a secret hideout in the hills.
He said he had been held captive for eight days and had attempted to escape twice but failed.
More than 50 people were being held at the compound, and the gang was preparing to send them abroad by sea, he alleged.
According to Asaduzzaman, armed men guarded the hideout and took away the detainees’ mobile phones and personal belongings, preventing them from contacting anyone outside.
Teknaf Model Police Station officer-in-charge Mohammad Saiful Islam said the six detained suspects were being interrogated by the joint forces.
“The identities of the detainees are not being disclosed for the sake of the investigation and as the operation is still ongoing,” he said.
The OC said three human trafficking cases had been filed with Teknaf Model Police Station in October, naming 17 suspects. Sixteen of them have already been arrested, he added.
Cox’s Bazar Life Report
