Cox’s Bazar – Joint security forces conducted a four‑hour search operation in the remote hills of Teknaf’s Hnila Union on Saturday morning after rumours circulated that three bodies had been found in the area. The operation, which began at 7:30 a.m., involved more than 150 personnel from the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, the Bangladesh Rifles (BR), the Police, and the Armed Police Battalion (APBN). No bodies were located, but the team recovered six spent cartridges, bullet casings, a national identity card, a driving licence and several cooking utensils from a suspected human‑trafficking hideout. The rumours of bodies emerged on Friday, prompting the joint forces to launch the search. Acting chairman of Hnila Union Parishad, Mohammad Ali, said the operation started in the hills behind the Rangi Khali and Leda Rohingya camps. “We searched several kilometres but found no bodies,” he told reporters. Earlier that week, on Thursday, the same joint force had carried out an operation in the area, rescuing 56 people from a clandestine prison run by a human‑trafficking ring. Six members of the ring were arrested. During the raid, a firefight broke out, resulting in the death of Army soldier Mohammad Titas Sheikh, 27. Sheikh was buried in a state funeral at Nagor Kanda in Faridpur on Friday evening. The rescued individuals were identified and handed over to their families after a verification process. Teknaf Model Thana officer Syful Islam reported that among the 56 rescued were six Rohingya and 50 Bangladeshi nationals. Police Superintendent N. M. Sajedur Rahman said that no bodies had been found at the site and that intelligence surveillance of the area had been intensified. “The joint forces will continue operations until the trafficking network is dismantled,” he added. Local residents and law‑enforcement officials say that traffickers have long used Teknaf’s coastline to smuggle Rohingya and Bangladeshi citizens to Malaysia and Thailand. They reportedly establish hidden hideouts and prisons in the hills, extorting money from those who fall into their traps. Despite repeated operations, the trafficking activity persists, especially during the dry season when calmer seas allow fish trawlers to be used for smuggling.
Article source: Ajker Patrika | Image credit: Ajker Patrika