Two Rakhine men beat a man with his hands tied behind his back and legs tied in a chain. To muffle his screams, the Rakhine men have also put a gag in the man's mouth. The entire incident was captured in a video that went viral on social media recently.
The man being tortured is identified as Jasim Uddin, from Miithapanir Chhora area of Teknaf, who has been held hostage by the Rakhine men somewhere in Myanmar.
It is reported that drug traffickers are now bringing yaba tablets into the country by keeping relatives and family members as collateral in Myanmar. If the ransom is not paid on time, then the family members meet the same fate as Jasim Uddin.
Jasim reached out to this correspondent and cried for help, saying one Jakir Ahmed from Hajampara of Teknaf sent him to Myanmar for trade purposes. Jasim said that he went to Myanmar as a log trader and had no clue that he was being sent there to serve as collateral in a yaba deal.
Jasim said he has been enduring this torture for the last four months. He was sent to Myanmar on a trawler in November last year.
Jakir said he later came to know about the 100,000-piece yaba deal that has caused his misfortune. The Rakhine men said they did not get money from their Bangladeshi dealer yet. Although, Jakir has promised to pay the money back, the torture did not stop.
Law enforcement agencies have expressed shock at the rise of such incidents in recent times.
Mohammad Aiyub from Pallanpara area of Teknaf has been kept hostage in Maynmar for the last two months in the same fashion. Ali Hossain got lucky, as he was released after three months from another camp.
Shaker Majhi, the local yaba dealer who sent Ali away to Maynmar, is now behind bars.
Mahabub Alam from Teknaf told this correspondent that recently they are hearing of many such incidents, and urged law enforcers to conduct a drive to stop such illegal and dangerous activities in the border areas.
Social activists in Cox's Bazar also called on the law enforcement agencies to take strong measures against the ongoing yaba trade in Teknaf. They said that many listed criminals had been in hiding for a long time, but recently they have become active again.
As it requires a huge sum to bring yaba from across the border, these drug dealers send their relatives away as collateral against consignments of yaba and ice.
In many cases, these local dealers are not able to pay their debt, leading to suffering for those who were sent.
Abdul Halim, officer-in-charge (OC) at Teknaf model police station, told this correspondent that they have seen the video footage which is under their initial investigation.
Action will be taken if the family of the victim files a complaint with the police, the OC said.