Bandarban, June 27 (bdnews24.com)- Joint forces have intensified operations in Bandarban hilly areas to rescue Danida staff members Hossain Shahid Sumon and driver Mohammad Hanif, kidnapped by an armed gang Monday.
Members of the army, BDR and police had surrounded places deemed likely hideouts of the armed gang as they expanded operations to rescue the hostages, said Bolipara BDR zonal commander Lieutenant Colonel Kazi Moazzem.
Security forces had widened their operations since Wednesday morning, Moazzem said, adding that 200 army men arrived there by helicopter.
Deputy commissioner Abdul Majid Shah Akond and senior police and army officers reached Thanchi Wednesday afternoon to direct the search operation.
Akond said that they were not leaving any stone unturned in their effort to rescue the abducted people. "The security forces are conducting combing operations in and around Khiburipara, Akond said.
Danida officials including the managing director from Dhaka were scheduled to reach Bandarban Wednesday, sources said.
From what locals say, members of the 'People's Party of Arakan' (PPA) are suspected to be the abductors. When the gang picked up the Danida staffers, they left a letter written in the Marma language, giving rise to the suspicion about their identity, the sources added.
Meanwhile, in a letter from an unidentified location, the abductors demanded Tk40 lakh as ransom for freedom of the abducted, an official of a local NGO 'Humanitarian Foundation' said.
A gang of 12 abducted Hossain Shahid Sumon and his driver Mohammad Hanif of Danish International Development Agency from Khiburipara Monday afternoon. Along with officials of 'Eco-Development', 'Taimu' and 'Hepbridge', Shahid Sumon was in Khiburipara to inspect projects of three local NGOs funded by Danida.
Local NGO workers Shupol Chakma and Omor Chakma said that 10 to 12 armed men stopped the Danida officials on their way back from the project areas. The armed men then looked for a foreign Danida official. After that, they picked up Shahid Sumon and his driver at gunpoint and left the scene aboard a trawler.
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