A college student has been staging an indefinite hunger strike at Dhaka University's TSC Raju Memorial Sculpture for 106 hours, according to him, demanding swift government action over what he describes as a recent surge in kidnappings in the Teknaf-Ukhia area.
An intermediate student from Rangamati Government College, Saiful Islam Jihadi, 20, said that he began his strike four days ago and has remained at the site for 106 hours, by his own account.
His main demand, he said, is that an investigation committee — bringing together police, DGFI, NSI, and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) — be formed at the fastest possible pace on the home minister's instructions and dispatched to Teknaf.
"The hunger strike will continue until policymakers give a full assurance, backed by a written memorandum, on launching a joint combing operation involving the armed forces," he told Dhaka Tribune on Thursday.
According to media reports, there have been several cases of kidnapping in the Teknaf-Ukhia area in recent years. It is reported that 295 people have been abducted in the Baharchhara area of Teknaf alone over the past three years.
According to police data, 295 people have fallen victim to kidnapping from various areas of Teknaf over the last three years. Of these, at least 140 people were abducted in 95 separate incidents in the past year alone, of whom 86 were Rohingya nationals. In most cases, victims returned home after paying substantial ransoms.
However, police claim the situation is under control now.
Teknaf Police Station Officer-in-Charge Saiful Islam told Dhaka Tribune on Thursday: "No one is currently being held captive."
"A lot of people who come here for drugs end up holding onto one another — one person keeps another. Later, someone calls 999 claiming a kidnapping has taken place. But when you look into it, it turns out to have nothing to do with kidnapping at all — it's drug-related. Genuine kidnapping cases are actually very rare."