Nine rescued in Teknaf as traffickers tried to send them to Malaysia by sea

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have rescued nine people, including a woman, in Teknaf as traffickers were trying to send them to Malaysia by sea.

They were rescued in a special operation on Saturday (7 November) evening in the Dakshin Lomborigha area of Teknaf Sadar. However, 10 to 15 members of the trafficking gang fled into the sea by boat.

BGB said it received secret information on Saturday afternoon that several people had been brought to the Dakshin Lomborigha area of Teknaf to be forcibly trafficked to Malaysia.

Based on that information, a special BGB patrol team took up a tactical position in the area at around 5:30 pm on the instructions of the battalion commander.

Later in the evening, BGB members saw 20 to 25 people gathered in the Lomborigha area. At that time, they spotted a suspicious boat coming from the sea towards the jetty and chased it.

At one stage, 10 to 15 members of the human trafficking gang quickly boarded the boat and fled towards the sea. The nine people who had been brought there to be trafficked were then rescued from the spot.

In preliminary questioning, the rescued people said they had been forcibly brought to the area to be trafficked.

The rescued people are Amir Hossain (45), Md Jibon (19), Jannat Ara (17), Abdul Khalek (29), Foysal Karim (16), Ariful Islam (21), Nurul Islam (22), Ahmad Nabi (23) and Zahid Alam (18).

Some of them are residents of the Rohingya camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf, while the others live in different areas of Cox's Bazar.

Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, commander of Teknaf Battalion-2 BGB, said BGB's position against human trafficking and other organised crimes is very strict.

He said intelligence operations, surveillance and special drives will continue in the border and coastal areas to prevent human trafficking.

He said the necessary legal steps regarding the nine rescued people are under way.