Police early yesterday intercepted 12 people at Chhanua area under Banshkhali upazila in Chittagong, while they were awaiting to be shipped to Malaysia illegally.
However, no trafficker was nabbed in this connection.
The fortune seekers were identified as Saddam, 18, Sumon Mia, 18, Jaber, 18, Mohan Mia, 18, Rezaul Karim, 18, Md Yunus, 25, Hridoy, 18, Sharafat Mia, 18, Yiahia, 18, Yusuf, 20, Jahangir, 18, and Esharon Hossain, 19, said Banshkhali police station’s Officer in-Charge (OC) Swapan Kumar Majumder.
Acting on a tip-off, police conducted overnight drives at several residences in the area where the youths were gathered to be trafficked to Malaysia through a sea route on Friday midnight, he said.
A case was lodged with Banshkhali police station accusing 22 identified and 10-12 anonymous people under the Human Trafficking Act, said the OC, adding that the fortune seekers would be sent to their villages after verification.
According to a 2014 investigation report of the Police Headquarters’ Anti-Human Trafficking Special Committee, about 4,500 people were rescued from Chittagong division in the last five years while about 15,000-20,000 people were trafficked to Thailand and Malaysia in the last decade using the sea route.
