Bangladesh Army has recovered AK-47 rifles and other ammunition during a raid on a remote hideout of the anti-peace accord faction of the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF-Prasit) in Baghaichhari’s hilly Baghaihat area of Rangamati, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Security forces said the operation is still ongoing and further details will be shared in a press briefing later.
In response to the operation, UPDF (Prasit) spokesperson Angya Marma told the Times of Bangladesh on Tuesday that the entire raid was a “fabricated drama.”
Describing the UPDF as a “democratic political party,” he claimed, “We have never maintained any hideout or engaged in armed activities.”
Angya Marma alleged that the operation was part of a conspiracy to destabilise the Chittagong Hill Tracts and establish a permanent military regime in the region.
“Since 2001, we have participated in national elections and acted as a democratic organisation. We have even boycotted several elections when necessary,” he said.
He further alleged that the current administration is continuing the same pattern of repression against UPDF as the previous “fascist Hasina regime.”
The military raid came just a day after a deadly armed clash between UPDF (Prasit) and its rival, the Jana Samhati Samiti (JSS-Santu), in the neighbouring Khagrachhari district’s Dighinala and Panchhari hills. On Sunday, a member of the Democratic Youth Forum, the youth wing of UPDF (Prasit), was killed in an attack allegedly carried out by an armed group affiliated with the JSS (Santu) faction.
In a press release issued the same day, the Youth Forum said its district member Khuku Chakma was shot by at least 20 armed members of the rival JSS group in Ugudochhari village under Ward No. 2 of Chengi Union in Panchhari. The group claimed that Khuku was later executed at gunpoint after being injured.
Since the signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord on 2 December 1997, numerous deadly confrontations have occurred between UPDF (Prasit), JSS (Santu), and their splinter factions.
Several UPDF members have also been arrested with arms and ammunition during past security operations in the region.