12 Women Rescued from Houses in Uttara and Bhatara After Being Held and Tortured with the Lure of Jobs in China
Twelve women were allegedly confined in a house and subjected to physical and mental torture after being lured with promises of being taken to China for high-paying jobs. The Special Response Battalion (SRB-1) rescued them in raids in the Uttara and Bhatara areas of the capital.
Lieutenant Colonel Neyamul Halim Khan, commander of SRB-1, disclosed the information at a press conference held at the SRB Media Centre in Karwan Bazar in the capital at 4 pm on Wednesday (October 28).
He said that after receiving an application from Bayezid Bostami Police Station in Chattogram on October 26, an SRB-1 team raided an area near Zamzam Tower in Uttara and rescued two missing women. Based on information provided by them, a raid in the Bhatara police station area the same night rescued 10 more women.
In preliminary questioning, the victims said they had been promised high-paying jobs and attractive benefits in China. Instead, without any valid documents or passports, they were confined in a house with dishonest intent and subjected to physical and mental torture. They also alleged that attempts were made to force them into various immoral activities.
The 12 rescued women have been handed over to their families. The SRB said a case is being filed over the incident and raids are under way to arrest those involved.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday night (October 27), SRB-1 learned from a secret tip that a large quantity of drugs was being taken by a mini covered van from the airport area towards Road 118 in Gulshan-2. A special checkpoint was set up in the area late at night and vehicles were searched. A mini covered van was stopped and one person was arrested with 430 litres of foreign liquor and 155.76 litres of beer.
Separately, at dawn on Wednesday, acting on information that a large consignment of yaba was arriving from Cox's Bazar, an SRB-1 team set up a checkpoint at the Matuail U-turn area in Jatrabari. At around 6:20 am, a Royals Travels bus heading towards Gabtoli was stopped and searched. Two people were detained with 510,000 yaba pills found on the bus.
The SRB said preliminary investigation into the yaba seizure has found the involvement of six people. The process of filing a case at Jatrabari Police Station over the incident is under way.
