Interpol issues red notice on 6 Bangladeshi human traffickers

The Interpol has issued a red notice on six Bangladeshi human traffickers as requested by the Criminal Investigation Department.

All of them are named in a case of human trafficking leading to the killings of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Libya, said Jisanul Haque, senior assistant superintendent of CID.

The traffickers are Eqbal Zafor, Tanzirul, Shapan, Shahadat Hossain, Nazrul Islam Molla and Minto Mia. Nazrul hails from Madaripur and Shahadat from Dhaka. The rest of them are from Kishoreganj, the Interpol said in its notice.

The suspects have been accused of luring people with promises of jobs, kidnapping and extracting a ransom and killing the victims.

On May 28, 26 Bangladeshi migrants were shot dead at Mizdah, a desert town in Libya, by a group of human traffickers. Four African migrants were also killed in the incident.

A total of 38 Bangladeshi nationals started a long journey to Europe for a better living through Libya, the Foreign Ministry said in May citing one of the survivors of the incident. The migrants had been crossing the desert from Benghazi in search of work when they were taken hostage by an armed group near Mizda.

The traffickers, in connection with the militia in Libya, demanded more money.

The leader of African traffickers was killed during an altercation leading his family and other traffickers to open fire indiscriminately. At least 30 people were killed, while 11 were injured in the incident.

A number of cases were filed in Dhaka and other parts of the country and dozens were arrested following the incident.

All six people mentioned in the red notice are named in the cases and live abroad, according to the CID.

Libya is home to a large number of migrants, including some who came to work in the major oil-exporting nation before its descent into civil war, and others hoping to use it as a way station on the journey to Europe.