SM Iqbal Parvez was a sub-inspector of police when he started peddling yaba pills. At one point, he was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in December 2011. He lost his job and served a prison term before getting bail.
But upon his release from jail, Parvez became dangerous as he began committing more serious crimes.
Elite force RAB on Saturday arrested him again during a raid in Kalatali and Sugandha beach point areas of the tourist city, and discovered two “torture cells”. Two of his accomplices, MT Munna and Mohammad Yusuf, were also arrested.
These cells in the hotel-motel zone were used by the gang, led by Parvez, to keep their victims hostage and extort ransoms from their families. Five hostages were rescued alive from the dens.
The victims include Md Shahjahan Kabir and Manjur Alam from Dhaka, a Rohingya couple from the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhiya upazila, and another individual from Cox's Bazar.
RAB-15 Senior Assistant Director (Law and Media) Md Abu Salam Chowdhury disclosed details of the operation at a press briefing on Saturday.
Abu Salam, also an additional superintendent of police, further said that they began investigating when the families of the Rohingya couple residing in Kutupalong camp informed them about the couple's abduction. They paid Tk2 lakh in ransom through mobile banking but the couple was not released.
Meanwhile, the gang members raped the woman multiple times. The husband was also subjected to inhumane torture.
Among the victims, Shahjahan and Manjur had come to Cox's Bazar and gone missing on May 16. Their families received a ransom demand of Tk15 lakh from an anonymous individual over the phone. Despite partially fulfilling the ransom demand, Shahjahan and Manjur were not released.
Earlier, the Tourist Police discovered another “torture cell” in Cox's Bazar in August 2022. In that case, four tourists being held hostage were rescued, and eleven individuals were arrested. It could not be known immediately whether Parvez, the former police officer, was also linked to this torture cell.
