More than 300 members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), including its battalion-15 commanding officer Lt Col Kamrul Hasan, have been transferred in a series of orders issued this month.
RAB-15 operates across Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban.
Although allegations involving misreporting of yaba seizures and financial irregularities have surfaced, RAB’s media wing has described the transfers as part of a “regular rotation”.
According to RAB sources, on 19 November, 198 members of the force were transferred through an order signed by Deputy Director (Administration) Major Faisal Ahmed. On the same date, another order transferred 200 more members. Another order issued last Thursday moved an additional 74 members.
Wing Commander MZM Intekhab Chowdhury, director of the RAB Media Wing, said Lt Col Kamrul Hasan was attached to the RAB headquarters after completing a year in the same unit.
On the other hand, Lt Col Mohammad Neyamul Halim Khan has taken charge as the new commander of RAB-15. He previously commanded 37 battalion of the 55 Infantry Division at Jashore Cantonment during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The large-scale reshuffle was part of the force’s routine administrative process, the wing commander said.
Although RAB has not commented directly on the allegations, multiple unofficial sources and local accounts suggest the mass transfers followed internal investigations into two controversial operations conducted by RAB-15.
On 7 September, RAB detained two women and reported recovering 89,600 yaba pills and Tk16.7 lakh in cash from a house in Kutupalong West Para, near the Rohingya camp in Ukhiya upazila of Cox’s Bazar.
Eight people including local drug traders Saddam Hossain, Mohiuddin and Jubo Dal leader Helal Uddin, were named as fugitives in the case filed with Ukhiya Police Station.
Discrepancies were later found in the FIR. The father’s name of a local Jubo Dal leader, Mohammad Selim, was replaced with the name of an unrelated individual, Mohammad Islam.
Mohammad Islam’s son, Selim Uddin, a local journalist, claimed he was falsely implicated due to the name similarity and expressed hope that an investigation will uncover the truth.
The operation also raised suspicion regarding the alleged misappropriation of nearly 1,10,000 yaba tablets. In early November, a team from the RAB headquarters reportedly visited the operation site in Kutupalong as part of an inquiry.
In another incident on 26 September, a RAB-15 team from Teknaf arrested Jahangir Alam, a top-listed drug suspect in Leda area of Hnila union. However, the seizure list described the recovered weapons as seven pieces of brick and two wooden sticks, prompting widespread criticism on social media and among locals.
Both operations were led by then commander Lt Col Kamrul Hasan. Teknaf’s FS Commander Imam, considered close to him, allegedly played a key role in the incidents.
Responding to questions on the allegations, RAB spokesperson Wing Commander Intekhab Chowdhury said, “If anyone is found involved in wrongdoing, legal action will be taken. RAB takes disciplinary measures based on investigation. The same will apply in this case.”
