Attack leaves nine security personnel injured in Sajek: Police

As many as nine members of security forces, including six Army troops and two policemen, were injured when individuals linked to UPDF threw brickbats at them in a bid to enforce a road blockade in and around Sajek Valley of Rangamati on Thursday.

The security personnel came under attack when escorting a vehicle convoy carrying 3,000 tourists out of the valley, said Rangamati Police Superintendent Muhammad Abdur Rakib at a briefing held at his office hours after the attack.

No tourist was injured in the attack that took place in Uzobazar area of Rangamati, he added.

The Army and police then removed the agitators from the road, and the vehicle convoy proceeded.

Separately, the ISPR said a section of the agitators started throwing brickbats at the convoy all of a sudden around 10:45am when the security forces were continuing talks with the blockade leaders seeking the safe exit of the tourists.

In response, police and army charged at the blockaders with batons to disperse them, the ISPR said.

The ISPR further said, citing allegations, that UPDF used local ethnic minority people as human shields in the blockade programme, and forced them to join the protest by using different means of intimidation.

A section of UPDF’s armed members have holed up in the Sajek Valley after being pushed to the brink amid an ongoing security operation against them, the ISPR said, citing preliminary information.

According to local officials, the UPDF’s main faction, led by co-founder Prasit Bikash Khisa, is the dominant ethnic minority group in Sajek, and seeks to counter the influence of other minority groups, including the Parbatya Chattogram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS), in the area.

The two blockade organising groups, Sajek Karbari Association and Sajek Gana Odhikar Rakkha Committee, are backed by UPDF-Prasit Khisa.

They have enforced the blockade for the third time this month, demanding the removal of “alleged terrorists” allied with PCJSS from the area.

Gunfight

Shortly after the skirmish with blockaders, armed agitators opened fire on the convoy, Police Superintendent Muhammad Abdur Rakib said at the briefing, adding none was injured in this second attack.

The security forces eventually managed to evacuate all the tourists safely and bring the situation under control, Abdur Rakib said.

After the tourist convoy was evacuated, intermittent gunfight between the law enforcers and armed militants continued till 1pm, Abdur Rakib said. After 1pm, the situation was completely under the control of law enforcers, he noted.

The ISPR, citing preliminary data, said that the armed members belonged to UPDF, and fired 30-40 rounds of ammunition at the tourist convoy.