Two Bodies Recovered From Hills in Hnila, Teknaf, Amid Allegations of Torture Killing Over Yaba Consignment Dispute

Police recovered the bodies of two men on Wednesday, November 4, from two separate hilly areas of Hnila Union in Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar. According to one of the injured men, four people were taken to the hills and tortured in the name of a trial over a dispute involving the hijacking and embezzlement of a drug consignment; two of them died, and two others were rescued injured.

The deceased are Moktar Kamal, 48, and Ali Akbar, also known as Abbuia, 30. Both were residents of the Amtoli area of Hoaikong Union.

At around 9:30am on Wednesday, Moktar Kamal's body was recovered from the Villager Para hilly area next to the West Pankhali forest beat office. Later, at around 1:30pm, police recovered Ali Akbar's body from the Lechuaprang hilly jungle in the same union.

Local sources said residents saw several people lying in the Pankhali area on Wednesday morning. When they went to rescue them, one person was found dead.

At that time, Elias, 35, and Ali Ahmad, 40, from the Tulatoli area of Hoaikong, were rescued injured.

The injured Elias claimed the dispute arose after a consignment of 100,000 yaba pills was hijacked and 30,000 pills could not be accounted for. On allegations of involvement in that incident, a man named Mizan on Monday night handed the four of them over to an armed hill drug group in Hnila, saying there would be a trial.

According to Elias, they were then taken to the hills and beaten and tortured. Moktar Kamal died in that torture. The body of Ali Akbar, who had been missing, was recovered later.

Mohammad Ali, acting chairman of Teknaf's Hnila Union Parishad, said: 'Primarily, we have learned that the incident happened over a yaba-related dispute. Law enforcement agencies are investigating the matter.'

Saiful Islam, officer-in-charge of Teknaf Model Police Station, said two bodies had been recovered over a drug consignment. Two more people injured in the same incident were also rescued.

The OC said hill drug traffickers were primarily suspected of involvement in the incident. Police are working on it. The two bodies have been sent to the morgue of Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital for autopsy.