Two young men have been found dead and two others rescued with severe injuries in a hilly terrain of Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, following a brutal abduction linked to an internal dispute over a stolen consignment of Yaba tablets.
Police recovered the bodies and rescued the survivors on Wednesday afternoon from the forested areas adjacent to Paschim Pankhali and Lechuaprang guava gardens under the Hnila Union. The deceased have been identified as Moktar Kamal and Ali Akbar, both residents of the Amtali area in Whaikhyang Union. The two injured survivors, Mst. Iliyas (35) and Ali Ahmad (40), hail from the neighbouring Tulatoli area.
According to initial findings and statements provided by the survivors, the violent episode stemmed from the theft of a large narcotics shipment. Iliyas revealed that a group of eight individuals had successfully managed to transport a consignment containing approximately 100,000 Yaba pills past a security checkpoint. However, whilst en route to hand over the drugs to another syndicate in the Daingyakata hills of Whaikhyang, a robber gang intercepted them and seized the entire shipment.
Although the group subsequently managed to retrieve around 70,000 pills, the remaining 30,000 tablets were unaccounted for, triggering severe mistrust and accusations of embezzlement amongst the traffickers. On Monday night, a local man identified as Mizan allegedly summoned the four victims under the pretext of settling the dispute through arbitration. Instead, he handed them over to an armed syndicate operating in Hnila.
The victims were forcibly dragged into the hills, where they were subjected to prolonged physical torture by the armed group. Moktar Kamal succumbed to his injuries on site, whilst Iliyas and Ali Ahmad managed to survive despite sustaining heavy injuries. Local residents spotted the victims near the Pankhali Forest Beat Office on Wednesday morning and alerted authorities. Police subsequently recovered the body of Moktar Kamal along with the two injured men, whilst Ali Akbar remained missing until his body was located in the hills later that afternoon.
Officer-in-Charge of Teknaf Model Police Station, Md. Saiful Islam, confirmed that preliminary investigations point towards a feud over misappropriated drug funds. Police are currently completing the inquest reports before sending the bodies to the Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital morgue for post-mortem examinations. Authorities have pledged to identify all perpetrator groups involved and bring them to justice.
In an unrelated yet concurrent operation on Tuesday night, the Special Response Battalion (SRB)-15 conducted a raid in the border-adjacent paddy fields of Moulvi Bazar in Hnila Union. Based on intelligence regarding a major smuggling attempt across the border, security personnel deployed a strike team and detained two suspects: Md. Absar Uddin (19) and Md. Adil (26).
A total of 1.1 million Yaba tablets alongside five large locally made machetes were seized during the drive. Lieutenant Colonel Khandakar Mahmudur Rahman, Commander of SRB-15, stated during a press briefing that whilst the 1.1-million-tablet seizure appears separate from the hill murders, investigators are examining potential operational links between the regional syndicates involved. Acting Chairman of Hnila Union Parishad, Mohammad Ali, echoed concerns over the rising violence, confirming that law enforcement agencies are aggressively probing the background of these drug-related clashes.
