Rapid Action Battalion (RAB 7) rescued 17 people from Chittagong city’s Chandgaon area when they were being assembled to be sent off to Malaysia illegally.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sohel Mahmud, also assistant director of RAB 7 Media Wing, told the Dhaka Tribune that they conducted a drive at Bahaddarhat Pukur Par area under Chandgaon police station from Friday morning till afternoon following a tip-off and rescued 17 persons.
Later, the elite force held two traffickers – Md Humayun Kabir, 27, of Ramu in Cox's Bazar district, and Taslim Uddin Emran, 28, of Kahalu of Bogra district -– from the area with the information of the victims.
RAB disclosed the incident to media through a press release on Saturday afternoon.
The rescued are Md Abdul Waheed, 67, Md Milon, 25, Mohammad Salim, 30, Hasan Ali, 28, Ahmed Ali, 20, Abu Hasan, 19, Nawsher Ali, 28, Abdul Mottaleb, 25, Jalal Uddin, 25, Mir Iqbal, 26, Ramzan Ali, 35, Mohammad Rafique, 40, Mohammad Shahid, 35, Mohammad Wasim, 27, Mamun Miah, 20, Sagar Mia, 23, and Heron Miah, 17. They are hailed from different areas of Sirajganj, Bogra, Magura, Jessore and Narsingdi districts.
The ASP said the victims were lined up in the area by the traffickers who would send them to a ship at sea by a boat for Malaysia.
The rescued persons were being kept in Chandgaon police station to be sent back to their homes and the arrestees were handed over to the police station.
A case was lodged with the police station in this regard, said the RAB official.