RAB arrests another suspect

Another suspect was arrested on Wednesday night in connection with the recovery of the bodies of three friends from a remote hill in Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar. The arrestee is Emrul. With this, two people have been arrested so far in this connection.

He was arrested from a remote area of Habibchhara hill, said Lieutenant Colonel Saiful Islam, commander of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-15 at a press conference at the battalion’s office on Thursday noon, reports UNB.

The RAB officer said the three friends- Mohammad Yusuf of Jalalabad Saudagar para area of Eidgaon upazila, Rubel of Chaufaldandi union and Imran of Nuniachara area of Cox’s Bazar city- were going to Teknaf from the district town on April 28 last month to choose a bride.

A group of criminals obstructed the CNG-run auto-rickshaw carrying them on their way to Teknaf and took them into a deep hill, he said.

Later, the criminals demanded a ransom of Tk 30 lakh and sent a video clip of the torture to the victims’ families, the RAB office said. As the ransom was not paid as per the demand, they killed the trio and burnt the bodies to hide evidence, he said.

However, the family members of the victims were in touch with the law enforcement agencies. But no one could be rescued alive as the kidnappers repeatedly changed their locations, according to the RAB officer.

During the primary interrogation, the arrestees confessed that they had long been involved in the kidnapping and used to target well-off people for ransom.