Kidnapping or smuggling operation gone wrong? 2 missing boats on Naf river raises suspicions
Six crew members were taken with the vessels, according to one of the boat owners who spoke to The Business Standard in the morning
Two boats carrying construction materials, including cement and iron rods, were reportedly captured by Myanmar's Arakan Army while en route from Teknaf to Saint Martin's Island.
Six crew members were taken with the vessels, according to one of the boat owners who spoke to The Business Standard in the morning.
The incident took place yesterday afternoon (12 November) in the Naf River estuary, Abdur Rashid, owner of one of the boats and President of the Teknaf-Saint Martin Service Boat Owners Association, said at 11:30am.
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"Two service boats, SB Rasel, which I own, and SB Faruk owned by Abdur Rob, were en route to Saint Martin's with cement and iron rods when they were seized at gunpoint by Arakan Army members. Six crew members were onboard."
He then claimed to have informed the Border Guard, Bangladesh (BGB), Coast Guard, and the local administration about the incident.
However, Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Adnan Chowdhury clarified that transporting construction materials to Saint Martin's Island was strictly prohibited.
"The Keruntoli jetty, where the boats reportedly loaded, has long been closed by the administration for such purposes," he said.
A Coast Guard official from the Teknaf station, speaking anonymously, echoed suspicions of smuggling, noting, "It is prohibited to carry construction materials to the island. We suspect these materials were being smuggled to Myanmar. The claims of abduction may be a cover-up, as the boat owners are now unreachable and might be attempting to avoid responsibility."
When our correspondent tried to reach Abdur Rashid, one of the owners who had earlier spoken to this newspaper, he, too, was now nowhere to be found.
A local representative from the island alleged that a smuggling syndicate led by Abdur Rashid, Abdur Rob, Ismail, and Jahangir has been involved in transporting food and construction materials under the pretense of servicing Saint Martin's Island for an extended period.
Lieutenant Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed, commanding officer of the Teknaf-2 BGB battalion, confirmed an ongoing investigation, saying, "We are working to determine whether these boats were involved in smuggling or if something else occurred. We have reached out to the Arakan Army for any information on the boats' whereabouts and are closely monitoring the situation."
