Abduction of 6 Sylhet bricklayers: Teknaf police looking for ringleader Mohammad Shafiullah

Teknaf Police are searching for the ringleader of a kidnapping gang named Mohammad Shafiullah in connection with the kidnapping of six bricklayers from a village in Zakiganj Upazila of Sylhet in Teknaf recently.

Teknaf Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge (investigation) Himel Roy confirmed the matter to The Business Standard today (23 April).

Police rescued the six bricklayers from a hill on the eastern side of Rajar Chhara Bonbit in Teknaf Sadar Union last night (22 April).

After the rescue, one of the abductees named Rashid Ahmed, filed a kidnapping case with the Teknaf Police Station as the plaintiff, naming Mohammad Shafiullah as the main accused.

However, the case statement did not mention any details about Shafiullah's identity.

"The kidnappers had kept these six people in the deep mountains to smuggle them to Indonesia by sea. Later, the police were able to rescue the six people through a joint operation. The six rescued people will be sent to court. They will give a statement under Section 64 before the judge. After that, action will be taken as per the court's instructions," said OC Himel.

"Although there are no details about the accused Mohammad Shafiullah, the police are trying to catch him," he added.

The six masonry workers from Zakiganj of Sylhet went missing for six days after going to work as bricklayers in Cox's Bazar earlier this month.

They were rescued from Rajarchara Hills in Teknaf around 9pm today (22 April).

Prior to their rescue, earlier yesterday, one of the missing workers, Rashid Ahmed, in a phone call informed Bahar Uddin, brother of another missing bricklayer Emad Uddin, that they are now in the Indonesian sea.

"Rashid told me that they were taken to Indonesia in a trawler from Teknaf," said Bahar, speaking to reporters this afternoon.

"However, Rashid did not say anything beyond that. It is not clear how true the matter is," he added. 

Later in the evening, four relatives, including Bahar, of the missing bricklayers, filed a written complaint with the Teknaf Police Station in Cox's Bazar on charges of abduction over the bricklayers going missing.

The six missing individuals are Rashid Ahmed (20), son of the late Lukush Mia, Maruf Ahmed (18), son of Faruk Ahmed, Shahin Ahmed (21), son of Azir Uddin, Emad Uddin (22), son of the late Durai Mia, Khaled Hasan (19), son of Safar Uddin, and Abdul Jalil (55), son of the late Sarabdi, of Paschim Loharmahal village in Khalachhara union of Zakiganj.

All of them left their homes in Zakiganj on 15 April to attend work in Cox's Bazar, according to police and family members.

"Emad, Khaled, and their companions left home on 15 April and reached Cox's Bazar on the 16th. At around 6pm that day, Emad called home and informed them that they had all reached their workplace," Emad's cousin and Khaled's uncle Abdul Basit Dulal told The Business Standard yesterday.

"After that, they did not contact home. When family members called them, their mobile phones were found switched off. Their companions also could not be reached over the phone. At first, the matter seemed normal. But since no one called back after five days, the families became worried," he added.