56 rescued from Teknaf hills handed over to police; victims describe being chained and fed raw gourd and lentils

The joint forces have handed over to police 56 people rescued from an armed human-trafficking den in the remote hills of Rangikhali in Hnila union of Teknaf, Cox's Bazar. They were handed over to Teknaf Model Police Station on Friday morning (6 November).

Teknaf Model Police Station officer-in-charge (OC) Saiful Islam said the 56 people rescued from the traffickers' hill den had been handed over to the police station. Their identities and other information were being verified. He also said legal proceedings were under way over the death of an army member shot during the hill operation.

The Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) said a gunfight broke out on Thursday afternoon during a joint forces operation against human traffickers in the remote Rangikhali hills. Army soldier Titas Sheikh, 27, was killed by gunfire from the armed traffickers.

According to the ISPR, five members of the trafficking ring were detained during the operation. A pistol, a locally made gun and four rounds of ammunition were recovered. The army's 10 Infantry Division, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and police took part in the operation.

Asaduzzaman, a resident of Faridpur who is in police custody, said in a tearful voice that the traffickers had kept him captive in a hut in the hills for eight days. He tried to escape twice but failed. There was an armed guard group of 40 to 50 people in the hills, he said.

Asaduzzaman said that while working on a bridge in Cox's Bazar he met Imamul, a Rohingya man from the Kutupalong camp in Ukhiya, and they later became acquainted. At one point, eight days ago, he was lured with the promise of work at the camp and called in; his mobile phone and everything he had with him were taken away. At night he was taken to the hills by CNG-run auto-rickshaw and handed over to the traffickers.

On reaching the hills, Asaduzzaman saw that more than fifty other people like him were being held there. Only then did he realise he had fallen into the traffickers' trap.

He also said that two days earlier a trawler with more than a hundred boats was preparing to set out by sea; an attempt was made to take him there with five others, but there was no space, so he was not put on the trawler that day. The final plan was to traffic them on Thursday. The army came and rescued them, he noted, but a soldier lost his life during the rescue.

Saiful and Mizanur Rahman Sagar, residents of Sebatkhali in Ukhiya who were rescued from the hills, said a broker named Nurali handed them over to the traffickers with the promise of work. They later learned from the traffickers themselves that the traffickers had bought the two of them for one lakh taka.

They said that over five days they saw four or five new people being brought in and gathered there every day. Anyone who tried to speak was beaten severely; they too were beaten for trying to escape. They were later tied up with iron chains.

According to them, they were given food only twice a day — raw bottle gourd and lentils. They were nearly starving. On Thursday they were to be put on a trawler and trafficked by sea; before that, the joint forces rescued them. There was heavy gunfire during the operation, and it felt as if a war was going on in the hills, they said.

Meanwhile, anxiety and anger have spread among local people over the killing of the army member by traffickers' gunfire in the hills. Local residents and public representatives have demanded a combing operation in the hills to eliminate the traffickers' dens. Student representatives have called human chains at various places in Teknaf after Friday prayers in protest at the incident. OC Saiful Islam said they had received reports of the human chain being organised against the criminals.

Nur Alam, a local resident of Hnila, said a combing operation in the hills was necessary; otherwise it would not be possible to break the traffickers' strong network. Gunshots are heard in the hills every day, he said, and armed groups have built dens in the hills of Baharchhara, Hnila and Whykong.

Mohammad Ali, acting chairman of Hnila Union Parishad in Teknaf, said the activities of hill-based armed groups were increasing day by day, and the movement of human traffickers was especially noticeable in the winter season. A soldier was killed in gunfire at the traffickers' den on Thursday; ordinary people here are largely helpless before the criminals, he commented.

Teknaf upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) SM Anik Chowdhury said law enforcement agencies were working to arrest the armed traffickers staying in the hills and that no one would be able to get away with committing a crime. Saying they were deeply saddened and shocked by the killing of the soldier on duty, he said that alongside law enforcement, the combined cooperation of local people was needed to eliminate such crimes. They were also keeping track of the human chain, he said.