Members of the Special Response Battalion have rescued 17 men who were allegedly held captive at a house in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar for trafficking to Malaysia by sea.
The rescue operation was conducted around 5:30pm by SRB-15 on Friday at a residence in the South Lambari area of Teknaf.
Assistant Director (Law and Media) and Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of SRB-15 AM Faruk confirmed the operation on Friday night.
According to him, CPC-1 (Teknaf Camp) of SRB-15 received secret information that an organised human trafficking syndicate had forcibly gathered several individuals at the residence of Md Ibraheem in South Lambari to traffic them to Malaysia by sea.
Acting on the information, law enforcers raided the house. Sensing their presence, members of the trafficking ring fled.
A search in the presence of witnesses led to the rescue of the 17 men unharmed.
The rescued men are from various upazilas in Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban districts. Seven are from Lama upazila in Bandarban. The remaining 10 are from Chakaria, Pekua, Ramu, Sadar and Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar.
ASP AM Faruk said preliminary investigations found that the gang had gathered the men to traffic them overseas by sea for financial gain and force them into labour.
SRB-15 has intensified intelligence surveillance and operations to identify and apprehend the absconding and unidentified traffickers, he added.
The 17 rescued men have been handed over to Teknaf Model Police Station for legal proceedings.
