The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has detained six members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa) including one of its commanders in raids on a remote hill in the Shamlapur area under Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar.
The detainees are Hafiz Nur Mohammad, 28, a top commander of Arsa's armed group, Mohammad Hossain Johor, 30, Md Faruq Hares, 23, Monir Ahmed, 36, Nur Islam, 29, and Md Yasin, 21.
RAB also recovered seven firearms, bullets and cash in the raids carried out from late Friday till early Saturday.
Khandaker Al Moin, RAB legal and media wing director, disclosed the information on Saturday morning while briefing the media in Cox's Bazar.
The detainees have confessed to their involvement in different crimes, including murder, rape, abduction and extortion, on a regular basis in Kutupalang Rohingya camp of Cox's Bazar and its surrounding areas, said the RAB officer.
RAB first held the Arsa commander and later the other members using information gleaned from him.
Hafiz led a criminal gang comprising 30/35 members and committed crimes including murder, rape, abduction and extorsion in Kutupalang camp and its adjacent areas, Moin said.
The detainees smuggled arms from the neighbouring country through remote bordering areas and used to supply those to local criminal groups, said the RAB official.
The Arsa members used to extort locals with threats of murder and abduction. If their demands were not met, they abducted people or even killed them and hid the bodies in the hills, he added.
Hafiz joined Arsa in 2016 as a section commander and maintained contacts with Ostad Khaled, the chief of Arsa's military wing, added Moin.
He came to Bangladesh in 2017 and initially took over the responsibility as a head community leader of camp 8 and gradually became one of the top military commanders of Arsa at Kutupalang camp, he said.
Moin said the detainees will be turned over to Teknaf police after filing a case in this regard.
He said 450 Arsa members are active in the camp. RAB operation continues to nab them.
