Abductions and ransom extractions continue unabated in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, despite ongoing joint forces operations against human traffickers and kidnapping syndicates.
In the latest incidents, a child and a youth were held in mountain hideouts and tortured until their families paid money for their release.
The incidents occurred within six days in the Roikyang and Minabazar areas under Whykong Union, spreading fresh panic among residents living near the hills.
On 7 November, armed miscreants abducted 11-year-old Rihan, a fifth-grade student at local Borkhil Madrasa and son of farmer Jamil Hossain, from the Roikyang area.
Rihan was returning after inspecting cropland at the Putibiyar Mizjir Chhara hill area with his maternal uncle, Nurul Kabir, when 7–8 armed men surrounded them.
Whilst his uncle managed to flee using a billhook in self-defence, the gang seized Rihan and dragged him into the mountains.
The kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of Tk7 lakh over the phone.
Following negotiations by his mother, Shamsunnahar Begum, the boy was released after three days in the Sheelkhali hill area of Baharchhara Union upon sending Tk1,60,000 via bKash.
Shamsunnahar Begum, a divorcee who struggles to finance her son’s education, said she sold her earrings and borrowed money from relatives to raise the ransom.
She also alleged that police reprimanded her when she sought assistance, forcing the family to pay the ransom independently.
Reliving his ordeal, Rihan recounted that he was beaten with his hands tied behind his back, fed only once a day, and moved across multiple hideouts.
In a separate incident on the evening of 9 November, Absar, son of Muhammad Salim of Minabazar, was kidnapped at gunpoint from a CNG-run auto-rickshaw near Unchiprang whilst travelling towards Cox’s Bazar.
Held in the mountains for two days and subjected to severe beatings, Absar was released on the Whykong-Baharchhara Dhala road on 11 November after his father paid Tk2 lakh in ransom.
Md. Hafiz, In-Charge of the Whykong Police Outpost, stated that neither family filed a case due to threats from kidnappers to murder victims if law enforcement is informed.
He added that delayed information hinders rescue drives, though police efforts to curb abductions remain ongoing.
Local sources indicate over 300 abductions have taken place in Teknaf over the past three years, leaving residents in at least 10 villages across Whykong, Hnila, and Baharchhara unions in perpetual terror.
Although joint forces intensified operations following the death of Bangladesh Army soldier Md Titas Sheikh, who was killed in firing by human traffickers during a drive, security anxieties among local residents remain unallayed.
