Six groups continue to keep CHT in the grip of fear

Six armed outfits continue to keep the residents of the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) in the grip of fear, according to an intelligence agency.

Members of these groups are allegedly backed by foreign powers as part of their blueprints against Bangladesh, sources at the agency said.

The outfits are the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF-Main), UPDF (Democratic), Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (JSS-Main), JSS (Reformist), Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) and MNP.

The districts of the CHT are under the clutches of these groups. The KNF and JSS (M) have retained their dominance in Bandarban, while Rangamati is under the menace of JSS (M), UPDF (M) and MNP, and Khagrachhari is under the menace of UPDF (M) and JSS (M), the intelligence agency revealed.

Sources in the agency said that, to maintain their influence, the groups routinely commit murders, abductions, extortion and other crimes. Equipped with heavy firearms, including AK-47 rifles, they are often locked in clashes among themselves and with security forces.

The sources added that the six organisations forcibly extort several hundred crore taka annually from people across multiple walks of life.

However, members of the organisations have become more active over the past few months, committing various crimes, the sources said.

The intelligence agency revealed that the security forces arrested 114 members of the outfits and recovered 60 weapons and 2,300 rounds of ammunition over the last six months.

On Monday, three people were killed in an alleged gunfight between UPDF-Main and JSS-Main in Khagrachhari’s Panchhari upazila, the police said, triggering panic among local residents.  Panchhari Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Ferdous Wahid said the deceased had not yet been identified.

On 3 July, six Rohingya labourers were abducted from a rubber plantation in Naikhongchhari, Bandarban, confirmed Mozammel Haque, OC of Naikhongchhari police station. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the Bangladesh Army carried out two separate operations against armed groups in Panchhari and Ramgarh upazilas of Khagrachhari on 23 and 24 June. In the Panchhari operation, two members of an armed organisation surrendered, along with two AK-47 rifles, two magazines and 132 rounds of ammunition.

In the Ramgarh operation, one member of the armed organisation was killed in an exchange of gunfire. One AK-47 rifle, one magazine, one pipe gun and 27 rounds of ammunition were subsequently recovered from the scene, according to the ISPR.

In a press bulletin on 2 July, the ISPR said security forces had carried out a special operation on 28 June in the remote Rethlang area of Bandarban, targeting a joint hideout of the KNF and UPDF-Main. An exchange of gunfire took place between the two sides during the operation, the ISPR said. The bulletin noted that the operation was still ongoing and that further details would be disclosed later. 

However, no further update had been provided.