Published : 29 Sep 2026, 09:45 PM
Updated : 29 Sep 2026, 09:45 PM
For a Mymensingh family, the promise of a passage to Italy has turned into a nightmare across two countries, ending with one woman allegedly tortured and forced into sexual exploitation in Egypt.
The Special Response Battalion (SRB) says it has arrested a key figure in the trafficking ring and found information suggesting the network has trafficked more than 2,000 people to different countries.
Mohammad Arzu Rahman, 47, was arrested in Dhaka’s Banani on Monday based on information from the National Security Intelligence agency (NSI).
The SRB says he took Tk 8.5 million from the family of five after promising to send them to Italy.
At a press conference at the SRB media centre in Karwan Bazar on Tuesday afternoon, SRB-4 commander Lt Col Hafizur Rahman said: “Arzu was in Egypt. He had been tracked for a long time, waiting for him to return home.
“Arzu returned home three or four days ago and was due to leave the country again next Thursday. In the meantime, his location was identified and the SRB arrested him on Monday.”
According to the SRB, a trafficking ring took the five family members, including two women, to Sri Lanka last July after taking the money for their promised journey to Italy.
The family was told they could not obtain Italian visas from Bangladesh and would have to get them through the embassy in Sri Lanka. But after reaching the country, they were subjected to inhumane torture, the SRB said.
The three men managed to flee and return to Bangladesh. The two women were then told they would have to travel to Egypt to obtain Italian visas there. One escaped and remains somewhere in Sri Lanka.
The other was taken to Egypt, where she contacted the NSI for help on Jul 16. The agency subsequently began tracking down Arzu.
The woman was subjected to severe abuse and allegedly forced into sexual exploitation, Hafizur said.
“When she refused, the torture intensified. She was burned with cigarettes on different parts of her body. From there, she sent us video messages describing the torture.”
After Arzu’s arrest, around 30-35 victims from different parts of Bangladesh contacted the SRB. Many had escaped dangerous circumstances abroad and managed to return home.
Another 300 victims have contacted intelligence agencies. They were allegedly charged Tk 2 million to Tk 4 million each after being promised passage to Europe.
According to Arzu’s initial interrogation, Hafizur said: “He had been involved in human trafficking for nearly 12 years. He has no licence of his own. Using different fake names, he would deceive innocent villagers, take them abroad, sell them and force them into immoral activities.”
The SRB also found Tk 17.08 million in transactions in one of Arzu’s bank accounts over the past year.
One of the five family members who returned home filed a case with Bhatara Police Station on Monday, Hafizur said.
Arzu was shown arrested in that case, while efforts are under way to arrest other members of the network.
“Several female victims are still believed to be stranded in Egypt. Efforts are under way to bring them home through the relevant ministry.”
The SRB has arrested 223 people in anti-trafficking drives during 2025-26 so far, Hafizur said.
“We have not yet established the total number of members in Arzu’s network. The investigation and further interrogation will reveal more.”
He said Arzu operated an agency and that others like him were active in Bangladesh, adding that efforts were under way to arrest them. He urged anyone with information about the network to inform the SRB.
