Police have recovered the bodies of two men from separate locations in the hilly areas of Hnila Union under Teknaf Upazila after four individuals were abducted and severely beaten over allegations of embezzling a drug consignment.
Two other men were rescued in a critically injured state during the operation.
The body of the first victim was recovered on Wednesday morning from the western side of the West Pankhali Villager Para hillock in Hnila Union, while the second body was retrieved in the afternoon from a guava orchard situated between the Uluchamari and Lechuaprang hill areas.
According to local sources, miscreants abandoned three severely injured men in the West Pankhali area from a CNG-driven auto-rickshaw at around am on Wednesday.
A local farmer noticed them lying at the spot and rushed to assist, but one of the injured men, Moktar Ahmad, 40, died shortly afterwards.
Local residents subsequently alerted the police and local public representatives, prompting police officers to arrive at the scene, recover the body, and rescue the two injured men.
The deceased, Moktar Ahmad, was the son of the late Abdus Salam of the Doingsyakata area in Whykong Union.
The two rescued injured individuals were identified as Mohammad Iliyas, 35, son of Abul Hosson, and Ali Ahmad, 26, son of Amir Hosson, both residents of the Tulatoli area.
At around 1pm on the same day, police discovered the body of another man in a guava orchard located between the Uluchamari and Lechuaprang hills in Hnila, who was preliminarily identified as Ali Akbar, the missing fourth person involved in the incident.
According to the rescued injured victim Iliyas, a gang of robbers had intercepted and snatched a drug consignment while it was being transported past a checkpoint to be delivered to another group in the Doingsyakata hills of Whykong.
Although Tk70,000 from the stolen consignment was later recovered, allegations arose regarding the embezzlement of the remaining Tk30,000.
Iliyas said that Mizan, a resident of Tulatoli in Whykong, accused the four men of involvement in the misappropriation and handed them over to a group from Hnila on Monday night under the pretext of holding a trial.
The group subsequently led them into the hills and subjected them to a severe beating, which resulted in the death of Moktar Ahmad and left the others gravely injured, while another person went missing.
Iliyas added that the drug consignment belonged to a drug dealer based in Hnila, though he declined to disclose the dealer’s name.
Teknaf Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Saiful Islam confirmed the recovery of one body and the rescue of two injured men from the Pankhali area of Hnila Union, followed by the recovery of a second body from a separate location.
The police official said that preliminary findings suggest the incident occurred as a result of an internal feud over drug-related matters, while potential prior rivalries are also being examined.
He added that preparations are underway to prepare inquest reports for the deceased and send their bodies to the Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital mortuary for post-mortem examinations.
Legal measures are being taken to uncover the true cause of the incident and identify the individuals involved.
