Coast Guard–Navy rescue 5 from traffickers in Teknaf
A joint team from the Bangladesh Coast Guard and Navy rescued five victims – four women and one child – from a traffickers' hideout near Habirchhara in the hilly interior of Teknaf at around 2:00am on Sunday, officials said. One suspected trafficker was detained.
Coast Guard media officer Lieutenant Commander Siam-ul-Haq said the raid followed intelligence leads and information from previously arrested smugglers, indicating that several Bangladeshis and Rohingya were being held ahead of an attempted sea crossing to Malaysia.
Victims told rescuers that organised gangs lured them with promises of better lives, well-paid jobs and cheap passage, then held them captive, abused them, and demanded ransom, with plans to move them by boat from the Marine Drive coast when convenient.
Legal proceedings concerning the rescued individuals and the detainee are under way. The Coast Guard said anti-human trafficking operations will continue.
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