Teknaf: Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) foiled a human trafficking bid and rescued 31 people, including 22 children from the hilly area of Teknaf in Cox's Bazar in the early hours of Monday while trafficking them to Malaysia. The victims included 26 Rohingyas and five Bangladeshi nationals, as confirmed by Devjit Pal, senior assistant director (Law and Media) of RAB-15. According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, two members of the trafficking gang were arrested during the raid. The arrested traffickers are Md. Anwar, 44, from the Pankhali area of Palankhali union of Teknaf, and Mohammad Aiyub, 36, from Uttar Lambari under Teknaf Sadar union. The traffickers had confined the victims in a hideout on top of a hill in the Kachchhapia area of Teknaf with the intention of trafficking them to Malaysia. Devjit Pal revealed that Ekhlas Mia, his cousin, and 2/3 friends from the Mochharkhola area in Ukhiya upazila were abducted by human traffickers from Kachchapia sea beach along the Marine Drive on November 12. The traff ickers forcibly took them to a hideout where they discovered other victims held captive. Later, Ekhlas and 15/20 others were taken to the nearby sea beach and boarded onto a fishing trawler meant to transport them to Malaysia, as his family could not meet the ransom demand of Tk 2 lakh. Ekhlas managed to escape and reported the incident to RAB-15 in a bid to rescue his cousin, friends, and others. Based on Ekhlas's information, RAB-15 members conducted a raid on the hideout and successfully rescued the victims. A case has been filed with Teknaf Police Station in connection to the incident.
