RAB rescues 24 Rohingyas held captive by alleged traffickers in remote Teknaf hills
A broker gang lured the 24 Rohingya men, women and children from Ukhiya camps three to four days ago, promising to send them to Malaysia, says RAB.
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has rescued 24 Rohingyas, including women and children, from captivity in the remote hills of Teknaf in Cox's Bazar.
Among them, four were men, 10 women and 10 children – all of them residents of Rohingya camps, RAB-15 Assistant Director AM Faruk said this afternoon (29 October).
Faruk said human traffickers have recently become active again in Cox's Bazar, using sea routes to smuggle people. "Keeping that in mind, RAB intensified its intelligence surveillance."
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
In continuation of that effort, RAB launched a special operation early today in the Baharchhara union of Teknaf, he added.
"In a three-hour operation by RAB, 24 individuals were rescued from a remote hill where they had been held captive for human trafficking, having been lured with the promise of being taken to Malaysia."
The traffickers managed to flee deep into the hills sensing the presence of the RAB team, the RAB official said.
Quoting the rescued victims, he added that a broker gang lured the 24 Rohingya men, women and children from Ukhiya camps three to four days ago, promising to send them to Malaysia, and then forcibly confined them in a house belonging to one Roksana at the top of the hills.
A case is being filed with Teknaf police against members of the trafficking ring, he said, adding that efforts are underway to arrest those involved
He mentioned that arrangements have been made to send the rescued individuals back to their respective camps.
Law enforcement agencies, including the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), coast guard and RAB, have continued a series of operations to curb human trafficking from Teknaf.
Over the past month, 432 victims have been rescued and 51 suspected traffickers detained.
