Five Charged After Extortion Gang Forcibly Seizes Cox’s Bazar Resort

Police in Cox’s Bazar have arrested one suspect and charged four others, including a local Chhatra Dal activist, following the violent overnight seizure of a hotel in the coastal town’s prime tourist zone. The operation unfolded during the early hours of Monday, 17 August, when an armed gang raided Nakshi Resort after its owner refused to pay a 10 lakh taka extortion demand.

Officers from Cox’s Bazar Sadar Police Station launched a rapid response shortly after the raid, arresting 40-year-old Mahfuz Shakil from the town’s Light House area. Shakil, a resident of Ratnapalang in Ukhia upazila, has been named as the second accused in a criminal case filed by the resort owner, Israt Jahan.

According to the official police complaint, the primary suspect behind the assault is Al-Amin, a local political figure affiliated with Chhatra Dal. The three remaining named defendants have been identified as Badrul Hasan Milky, Ashikul Islam, and Arif. A further 10 to 12 unidentified accomplices have also been implicated in the docket.

The ordeal began at around 3:00 am on Monday when the group forcibly entered Nakshi Resort in the Light House area under cover of darkness. When hotel employee Abdu Shukur attempted to intervene, the attackers subjected him to a severe physical assault, inflicting serious injuries across his body. As Shukur tried to phone the property owner for help, the perpetrators confiscated his mobile phone before throwing him out onto the street.

The attackers subsequently went on a rampage inside the property, smashing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, destroying valuable furniture, and looting essential electronics, including eight 32-inch Samsung televisions.

In her detailed police statement, Israt Jahan revealed that the gang had been running an extortion racket targeting hotels and businesses across the Kalatali tourist district. The group had repeatedly demanded 10 lakh taka in protection money to allow her business to operate smoothly. Prior to Monday’s raid, the suspects had already illegally seized four flats owned by Jahan inside Milky Resort, along with an 800-square-foot ground-floor commercial unit.

The owner further stated that the extortionists issued grave threats against her family, warning that her young child, a student at Ramu Cantonment School, would be kidnapped and murdered if the money was not handed over. Local shopkeepers renting commercial spaces from Jahan were similarly subjected to intimidation. Despite submitting three to four formal general diaries (GDs) with the local police station in recent months, the harassment escalated into Monday’s full-scale takeover.

Before fleeing the scene, the gang declared that the resort would remain under their control until the 10 lakh taka ransom was paid in full, threatening to kill anyone who sought police intervention.

Cox’s Bazar Sadar Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Sheikh Mohammad Ali confirmed that formal charges have been recorded against all five named suspects and their unidentified accomplices. OC Ali assured the public that law enforcement maintains a zero-tolerance policy against organized extortion and illegal property grabs, promising that additional raids are underway to apprehend Al-Amin and the remaining fugitives.