Twenty-two days have passed since the two tourists from Dhaka were said to have been kidnapped along with their local guide in the border areas of Bandarban, but law enforcers still do not have a clue.
A joint team of several law enforcement agencies have been operating a drive in the hills since the day of the alleged kidnapping, but the three remain missing.
During the drive, which is said to be still going on, the joint forces got involved in deadly gunfire exchanges with criminals and seized arms and ammunition, but the missing have remained out of reach.
According to local sources, on October 3, Jakir Hossain Munna and Abdullah Al Zubayer, both residents of Dhaka’s Mirpur, and their guide Mangsai Mro were kidnapped in the Raikkhang Pukur Par area in Ruma upazila in Bandarban district.
Initially, the kidnappers demanded Tk50 lakh in ransom, claiming they were from the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), a separatist criminal group of Myanmar. However, the organisation later denied making any such ransom claims.
Local residents say that chances are very slim that the three kidnapping victims are still alive.
Abdullah Al Zubayet, brother of victim Zubayer, said: “We think they are not in this country. We do not even know whether they are alive or not.”
Kazi Mohammad Chahel Tasturi, upazila executive officer of Ruma, also said that they do not know whether the victims are still alive or not.
Although NGO and government officials have been kidnapped in the past in Bandarban, kidnapping of tourists is rare.