Kidnapping business does not stop in Cox’s Bazar’s Teknaf. Miscreants abducted five people from the vegetable field next to the Pankhali Hills of Hnila West Upazila on Thursday (March 21) early in the morning. They could not be rescued even in the last 36 hours. From the first of this month to Friday (March 22), 20 people, including children, have been abducted. Most of whom returned home on ransom.
According to the victims, more than 150 people have been caught by the kidnappers in the last three years. Among them were school, college and madrasa students, kathurias, fishermen, farmers and expatriates. After the kidnapping, five people were killed when they could not pay the demanded ransom. The people of this region are living in fear of kidnapping as the kidnapping trade is increasing day by day.
According to sources, five persons, including a teenager, were abducted while guarding the family’s vegetable field in Teknaf on Thursday. They are the sons of deceased Syed Ullah of Paschim Pankhali, Ward No. 4, Hnila Union, Teknaf. Shamim (19), Mohammad Rafiq (19) son of Fakir Mohammad of the same area, Mohammad Jihan (18) son of Shahjahan, Mohammad Noor (22) son of Abdur Rahim and Abdur Rahim (14) son of Nurul Amin.
Sona Mia, the elder brother of abducted Shamim, said that various types of vegetables including potatoes, chillies and corn have been cultivated on the land next to the West Pankhali hills. Shamim and the other four abducted were working in their fields. When they went to the field on Thursday morning, they were caught by the kidnappers. After this incident, Thursday and Friday, they were searched in different parts of the hill and could not be found.
Chayed Alam (40), a resident of Teknaf’s Baharchhara, who was abducted earlier, said, ‘On March 8, Ali Ahmad of Jahazpura, along with us, were working in a betel barge. Suddenly an armed group of 8-10 people took us hostage and tied us inside the mountain. Later, after being helpless in their torture, I returned safe from the grip of the abductors with a ransom of one lakh taka.’
Nurjahan is a resident of Hnila. He said his son Swat bin Abdullah (6). He was on his way home from the madrasa on March 9 when the abductors caught him.
Mir Kasem, a resident of Huaikong, said, “On the morning of March 10, seven people, including my two sons Noor Kabir and Jasim, went to work in the mountain garden next to the Unchiprang Rohingya camp. When five more people went there to collect wood and herd cows, an armed group of 10-15 people took them hostage at gunpoint and took them towards the mountains. They demanded a ransom of two lakh rupees per person. Later, the kidnappers released them at night after reaching 50,000 rupees in cash.’
Farid Alam, a member of Ward No. 7 of Baharchhara Union, said that on the morning of February 12th, Abdul Alim, a seventh grade student of Marisbaniya High School, went to work with his mother at the barge. Meanwhile, the terrorists shot 4-5 blank rounds and abducted him. Five days after the incident, his family brought him back with a ransom of 60,000 taka.
He said that earlier Baharchhara auto rickshaw driver Mahmudul Karim and Hnila easy bike driver Muhammad Hossain were killed because they could not pay the ransom. Later, the police recovered their bodies from the Shamlapur dump.
After this incident, three friends named Yusuf, Zamir Hossain and Imran from Cox’s Bazar went for a walk in Baharchhara Noakhali neighborhood and they were also kidnapped. Later, the kidnappers killed them as they could not pay the ransom of Tk 20 lakh. So far, more than 70-80 people from Baharchhara have been kidnapped and returned alive after paying ransom.
The cases of kidnapping are increasing day by day. Common people cannot protest against these things. The UP member mentioned that if someone protested, he was threatened in various ways.
The Chairman of Hoikang Union Parishad Principal Noor Ahmed Anwari said that in the last few years, more than 150 people of various professions in the region have been abducted. They were each released by ransom. Day by day the number of kidnapping incidents is increasing and there is panic among the people. Especially those living in hilly areas are afraid to return home.
Rashed Mohammad Ali, Chairman of Hnila Union, said that the five people who were kidnapped on Thursday could not be rescued even on Friday. He requested everyone’s cooperation in controlling the kidnappers.
In this regard, Teknaf Model Police Station OC Muhammad Osman Gani said that many members of the kidnapping gang have been arrested, including many rescued. It is difficult to move easily as it is a hilly road. Still, detectives and policemen are working in the field to arrest the members of the kidnapping gang, he said.
SR/ASM
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