Home
+
Published : 22 Jul 2023, 04:39 PM
The Rapid Action Battalion has busted a hideout of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an insurgent group from Myanmar, deep in Teknaf's hills.
There, the terrorists ran a 'torture cell', where they held people for ransom, according to the RAB.
Law enforcers also arrested six members of the outfit, including a top 'military commander', while recovering arms, ammunition and cash during a late-night raid.
The detainees are believed to be involved in several murders and 'disappearances', the RAB said in a media briefing on Saturday, a day after the raid in Teknaf's Baharchhara.
“The ARSA terrorists built a secret hideout and set up a 'torture cell' deep in the hills. A raid was conducted there based on a tip-off,” said RAB spokesman Commander Khandaker Al Moin.
"Hafez Noor Mohammad, a top ARSA terrorist and military commander at the Kutupalong [Rohingya] shelter, was arrested after the location of the secret hideout was confirmed. Five others were later arrested on the basis of the information he gave."
During preliminary interrogation, the arrestees also divulged 'important details' about their involvement in terrorist activities.
Noor joined the ARSA in 2016. He is a skilled martial artist and bomb-maker. Under his leadership, around 30-35 members of the ARSA committed a series of crimes, including murder, kidnapping, robbery, drug peddling, and extortion, and engaged in turf battles in the Kutupalong camp and its surrounding areas.
Al Moin said they also smuggled weapons through remote border areas. Nur used to extort Rohingya and local people by threatening them with murder, abduction and disappearance, he added.
