The Rapid Action Batallion (RAB) has arrested four members of the Rohingya separatist group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa), including a commander, following an exchange of fire between the two sides in a Rohingya camp in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar.
After the gunfight at around midnight on Monday, RAB made the arrests in an overnight operation, recovering arms and explosives in the process, RAB-15 chief Lt Col HM Sajjad Hossain said on Tuesday.
The arrestees include Md Yunus Prakash alias Master Yunus, chief of the accounts division of Arsa.
Sajjad said acting on a tip-off, RAB raided the Jamtoli Rohingya camp on Monday night. RAB members surrounded a hideout of Arsa. Sensing the presence of law enforcement, Arsa members fired shots at the RAB members. Then a gunfight ensued when RAB fired blanks in return.
When they were fleeing the area, RAB arrested four of them.
The RAB officer said the Arsa members had gathered in the hideout as part of a plan to create major unrest and sabotage in the camp ahead of the 12th national parliamentary election of Bangladesh.
