5 more ARSA members arrested in Cox’s Bazar

Staff Reporter  :
The elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested five members of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) alongside Hafiz Nur Mohammad, a top commander of ARSA’s armed group.

They were arrested from Shamlapur and Baharchara areas of Cox’s Bazar with arms and ammunition following the information gleaned from Hafiz.

The arrestees have been identified as Hossain Johor, 30 and Md Faruq, 23 of camp 15, Monir Ahmed, 36, Noor Islam, 29 and Md Yasin 21 of camp 16. All of the arrestees are top leaders and active members of ARSA.

A team of RAB-15 and the intelligence wing of RAB headquarters conducted a raid at a remote hill in Shamlapur area under Teknaf upazila on Friday night and made the arrests, said
Khandaker Al Moin, RAB’s legal and media wing director, while briefing media in Cox’s Bazar around 11:45 am on Saturday.

Hafiz led a criminal gang comprising 30/35 members and committed crimes including murder, rape, abduction and extortion in Kutupalang camp and its adjacent areas, Moin said.
The arrestees smuggled arms from the neighbouring country through remote bordering areas and used to supply those to local criminal groups, he said.

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.