Four abducted youths rescued in joint drive in Teknaf hills

RAB and police rescued four youths who had been held hostage for ransom from a remote hill in Teknaf, Cox's Bazar, yesterday during a joint operation launched to find two youths who had gone missing from Feni.

Three of the rescued youths are from Feni and the other is from Habiganj.

The joint operation was carried out by RAB-15 and Teknaf Model Police Station in the Rangikhali Jummapara hill area under Hnila union, said ASP AM Faruk, assistant director for law and media of Rapid Action Battalion-15, Cox's Bazar Battalion.

The rescued youths are Emam Hossain Zisan, 23, son of Abdul Karim of Ganipur in Daganbhuiyan upazila of Feni; Md Emam Hossain, 18, son of Nizam Uddin of the same area; Tahidul Islam Tamim, 19, son of Mohammad Selim of West Rampur in Feni municipality; and Sumon Mia, also known as Hossain, 22, son of Joj Mia of Noai in Bahubal upazila of Habiganj.

Faruk said Zisan and Tamim went missing after arriving in Hnila from Feni on 26 June. A general diary was filed with Daganbhuiyan Police Station in Feni on 28 June over their disappearance.

Considering the seriousness of the incident, a RAB-15 intelligence and operations team immediately began work.

After analysing intelligence and using technology, RAB found that the two missing youths were being held by a kidnapping gang in the hills of Teknaf, Faruk said.

Following the finding, RAB-15 and Teknaf police entered the remote and steep hills of Rangikhali Jummapara in Hnila, Teknaf, yesterday afternoon.

As the joint team surrounded the hills and began the operation, the abductors tried to resist but fled into the forest. No injuries were reported and no one was arrested.

The four youths were later rescued from a hideout in the hills.

The two other rescued youths had come to Teknaf in search of work and were later abducted by the same gang, said the RAB official.

Quoting information from the rescued youths, he said the gang had tied their hands and legs and held them at a hideout in the remote hills.

"The abductors called all four families and demanded Tk5 lakh for each youth, totalling Tk20 lakh. No ransom was paid before the rescue," he added.

The official said the youths were badly tortured as ransom payment was delayed. They were given medical treatment after the rescue.

"Their lives could have been at risk if they had not been rescued in time," he added.

After receiving primary medical care, the four rescued youths were handed over to Teknaf Model Police Station for legal procedures.

No case had been filed till the filing of this report.

Faruk said RAB and police were continuing drives in the remote hills to arrest the ringleader and members of the kidnapping gang.

In a separate incident, rural and homoeopathic practitioner Dr Kamal Uddin, also known as BA Kamal, 65, remained missing after being abducted at gunpoint from his home on 28 June.

He was taken from his house at Noakhaliya Jummapara in Ward No 9 of Baharchhara union around 1pm that day.

Kamal is the son of late Mokbul Ahmed of the same area. He has long been working there as a rural and homoeopathic practitioner.

Inspector Md Abu Sayeed, in-charge of Baharchhara Police Investigation Centre, confirmed the incident and said police and other law enforcement agencies were continuing efforts to rescue him.