A racket trafficked nearly 30 Bangladeshis to Russia on the promise of high-salaried jobs, and subsequently forced them to participate in the Russia-Ukraine war, leading to the deaths of at least 20 Bangladeshis.
In connection with the incident, the Special Response Battalion (SRB) arrested two members of the trafficking ring, including its kingpin.
Md Asaduzzaman, commanding officer of SRB-10 and additional deputy inspector general, made the disclosure at a press conference organised at the SRB Media Centre in Dhaka on Wednesday. The arrestees are Mizanur Rahman, 55, and Md Abu Taher Lentu, 50.
They were detained during a late-night operation on Tuesday from Faridpur and Jhenaidah respectively.
Asaduzzaman said victims were forced to join the Russian army upon arriving in Russia. Following training, they were deployed to the front lines of the Russia-Ukraine war as human bait to identify opponent positions.
When opponents launched drone strikes on them, the victims were used as targets to locate the position and distance of the attackers.
Describing a specific case, Asaduzzaman said the arrestees sent Rajan Hossain, 21, to Russia on 7 May for Tk825,000 under the pretext of construction site work.
After arrival, he was forcibly enrolled in the Russian army, and following 21 days of continuous training, 30 Bangladeshis including Rajan were sent to the front lines.
Rajan sustained a broken waist bone and lost power in both legs during a drone attack.
After enduring severe suffering for four days, he reached a hospital for treatment, subsequently escaped while injured, and returned to Bangladesh on 23 August with assistance from the embassy.
When compensation was demanded, Mizanur Rahman verbally abused, attempted to assault, and threatened to kill the victim’s family members.
Consequently, the victim’s father filed a case under the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Prevention and Suppression Act at Kaliganj Police Station.
According to an SRB official, the kingpins of this ring trafficked nearly 30 Bangladeshis with promises of high salaries before forcing them into the war. Of the total 30 victims, nearly 20 Bangladeshis have died and two managed to escape back to the country.
Among the remaining eight, two injured victims are undergoing treatment at a local hospital, while six others remain on the battlefield.
Mizan, kingpin of the ring, serves as the chairman of Jabal-e-Noor International Agency. A total of 21 victims were sent to Russia through his agency.
The commanding officer added that involvement of two other individuals, Mostafizur Rahman and Ali, was found in sending the remaining victims, along with two institutions named Hares International and TS Group.
Kingpin Mizan personally handled everything from issuing passports to boarding all 30 victims onto flights. Upon reaching Russia and learning about their actual workplace, all 30 victims requested Mizan to save and bring them back, but the traffickers ignored their pleas.
Moreover, involvement of two individuals residing in Russia was also found in connection with this Bangladesh-Russia human trafficking ring.
