Cox’s Bazar
Tourist goes missing in turbulent seas off Cox’s Bazar beach
A young college student went missing from Kalatali point of Cox’s Bazar sea beach on Monday when he went to take a bath in the sea.
The missing tourist was identified as Adnan Maruf, son of Md Rezaul Karim and a student of Gazipur Metropolitan College.
The incident occurred around 1:30 pm when Adnan and his two friends from Gazipur ,Masum and Shawon went into the sea defying the local cautionary signal three, hoisted due to low pressure in the Bay, said Md Rezaul Karim, Additional Superintendent of Cox’s Bazar tourist police.
Also read: Missing college student's body found in Pangasia canal
Beach staff Md Mahbubul Alam said of the three youths Masum managed to swim ashore when the sea turned turbulent as he didn’t go too far but Adnan and Shawon could not.
Lifeguard staff managed to rescue Shawon rushing by a water bike but Adnan went missing, he said.
Shawon is currently admitted at the district sadar hospital, said police.
The three friends from the same college came to Cox’s Bazar on Sunday.
Also read: Sunk bulkhead's missing worker found dead
Additional District Magistrate Md Abu Sufiyan said a rescue drive will be conducted till finding the missing tourist.
4 tourists rescued from Cox’s Bazar cottage; members of extortion gang arrested
Police arrested two members of an extortion gang in a case filed over kidnapping four tourists and keeping them in captivity at a Kolatoli cottage in Cox's Bazar.
The arrestees were identified as Rashedul Islam, 25, and Md Shakil, 22, from Islampur area at Eidgaon upazila in Cox’s Bazar, said Md Rezaul Karim, Additional Superintendent of Cox’s Bazar tourist police on Sunday.
They were arrested on Sunday night from Sugandha point of the beach.
Also read: 4 rescued from Cox's Bazar cottage; 11 extortion gang members held
“The arrestees in primary interrogation confessed they were part of a gang of at least 11 people who used to trap tourists to come to Sheuli cottage and later involved them in women and drugs related scandals to blackmail and extort money,”said Additional SP Rezaul Karim.
“They used to capture objectionable photos of the tourists secretly and later threaten to spread them through the internet. As a result none of the people who became victims of this gang’s ploy so far reported the matter to police,” he said.
A case was filed in this regard against four named people and seven or eight anonymous people in this regard at Cox’s bazar sadar police station.
“Two of the named accused have been arrested and efforts are on to arrest others,” said Additional SP Rezaul karim.
Also read: Depression in Bay: Avoid Cox’s Bazar beach, say tourist police
On August 7, a team of Tourist Police raided Sheuli Cottage at night and rescued four people from captivity of a gang, members of whom managed to flee.
Two of the rescued people came to Kolatoli with patients and went to Sheuli Cottage to spend the night as some of the gang members offered rooms at low rates, said police.
When the tourists refused to pay the inflated prices later claimed by the gang members, they locked the rooms from outside, said police.
Rohingya leaders shot dead in Cox’s Bazar
Two Rohingya leaders were shot dead allegedly by assailants over past enmity at Ukhia Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday night.
The deceased were identified as Abu Taleb, 40, community head of Camp-15 and son of Abdur Rahim, and Syed Hossain, 35, sub-block community head of the camp and son of Imam Hossain.
Additional superintendent of Armed Police Battalion (APBn)-8, Kamran Hossain, said that 8-10 armed men came to Asia Begum Shed of the camp and opened fire on Taleb and Hossain around 11.45 pm, leaving them seriously injured on the spot.
Read: Narayanganj 7-murder: Nur Hossain gets life term in arms case
They were taken to a local hospital but doctors referred them to Kutupalong Hospital. Later they succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.
The APBn members raided the blocks of the camps on Wednesday morning and are trying to arrest the criminals, said Kamran.
A complaint has been lodged in connection with the attack with Ukhia Police, said officer-in-charge of Ukhia Police Station, Mohammad Ali.
Rohingya shot dead in Cox’s Bazar
A Rohingya man was shot dead in a reported gunfight between two factions of Rohingya at Nayapara in Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar district on Sunday night, police said on Monday.
The deceased was identified as Ibrahim, son of Abdur Razzak of the upazila. He was a supporter of ‘Jakir Bahini’ a Rohingya criminal gang.
Hasan Bari Nur, commanding officer of APBn-16, two Rohingya criminal gangs exchanged gunfire in the Rohingya camp on Sunday night.
On information, a team of APBn rushed to the spot and found Ibrahim injured with bullets.
Also read: Seven Rohingyas detained while trying to escape Bhasan Char
Later, he was taken to the local hospital where doctors referred him to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital.
Ibrahim died on way to Cox’s Bazar hospital.
Police are investigating the incident and trying to arrest the culprits, said police.
Also read: Rohingya refugee shot dead at Ukhiya Camp
Over 4kgs crystal meth, 1.5 lakh Yaba pills seized in Cox’s Bazar
Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Sunday seized over 4 kg of crystal methamphetamine and 1.5 lakh yaba pills in a drive in Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar.
Tipped off, a team of BGB-2 intercepted a boat in which 3/4 suspected smugglers from Myanmar were heading towards Jaliar Dwip around 5am, said Commander of Teknaf Battalion (BGB-2) Lieutenant Colonel Sheikh Khalid Mohammad Iftekhar.
Read: 2 held with crystal meth, yaba worth Tk5.91 crore in Cox's Bazar
The smugglers, however, jumped into the Naf River and managed to escape.
Later, the BGB men seized the crystal meth, yaba pills and 25 kg of current nets worth Tk 25.89 crore from the boat.
3 get life in jail for raping minor in Cox’s Bazar
A Cox’s Bazar court has sentenced three men to life in jail for violating a minor girl in 2003.
All the convicts -- Nurul Alam, son of Abdus Salam, Helaluddin, son of Jalal Ahmed, and Mamtaz Mia, son of Kashem of Teknaf upazila -- were tried in absentia.
Cox’s Bazar Woman and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal judge Md Abdur Rahim handed down the punishment to the three on Tuesday and also imposed a fine of Tk one lakh on each of them.
In case of default, the three will have to undergo an additional six months of rigorous imprisonment, the court ruled.
Life imprisonment in Bangladesh means a convict will remain behind bars for 30 years unless specifically mentioned in the order otherwise, according to a 2021 order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
Read: 10 gold bars seized at Sylhet airport
However, the Cox’s Bazar court exonerated the prime accused in the case -- Nur Mohammad -- who died during the trial.
According to the prosecution, the girl, aged about nine years, was raped by the convicts on April 5, 2003, while she was returning from the hilly area after collecting firewood.
A complaint was lodged with Teknaf Police, following which an FIR was registered in connection with the crime.
On July 1, police submitted a chargesheet against the four, including the prime accused.
‘Criminal’ beaten dead in Cox’s Bazar
A suspected criminal was beaten to death at Badamtol Station in Pekua upazila of Cox’s Bazar district Monday night.
The deceased was identified as Zafar Alam, son of Najir Ahmed of the upazila.
A group of people numbering 7-8 waylaid Zafar on his way to home from Chakaria court around 8 pm, said officer-in-charge of Pekua Police Station, Farhad Ali.
Later, they beat him up mercilessly with a stick, leaving Zafar injured.
Read: Three held over SUST student Bulbul's murder
He was taken to Pekua Upazila Health Complex by locals where doctors declared him dead.
Police sent the body to the morgue of a local hospital.
Zafar was wanted in two murder cases including of one over the murder of his daughter-in-law Salma Begum, said the OC.
He was also wanted in some other cases including that of arms and robbery.
Zafar’s two sons- Jahangir and Alamgir- were wanted in many criminal cases.
Teen tourist goes missing in Bay of Bengal
A 16-year-old tourist went missing in the Bay of Bengal while taking bath at Inani Royal Tulip point in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday, police said.
The missing tourist has been identified as Abdullah, son of Colonel Shaheed.
Read: Two female tourists die in Cox’s Bazar
Additional superintendent of Cox’s Bazar Tourist Police, Rezaul Karim, said Abdullah and his parents came to visit Cox’s Bazar.
"At 11am, he was swept away away by the strong current while taking bath in the sea with his family members. A search operation is on," said Rezaul.
BCL leader stabbed dead in Cox’s Bazar
A leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) was stabbed to death allegedly by his rivals in Sadar Upazila of Cox’s Bazar on Sunday.The deceased was identified as Faisal Uddin, 25, son of Lal Mohammad of South Delpara area of Khurushkul Union. He was the joint general secretary of Sadar Upazila Chhatra League.The incident took place on Sunday evening when Faisal was returning home from an Awami League conference, said Sheikh Munir Ul Gias, officer-in-charge of Cox's Bazar Sadar Police Station.
Read: Kurigram: Bodies of two minor siblings recoveredLocals said Faisal and the relatives of Nurul Huda in the area had been at loggerheads over the murder of Nurul Huda.On Sunday evening, the relatives of Nurul Huda attacked Faisal with sharp weapons. Faisal died on the spot.On information, police rushed to the spot and recovered the body.The body was kept at Cox's Bazar District Sadar Hospital for an autopsy, added the OC. “Efforts are on to nab the culprits".
2 rape accused held by Rab in Cox’s Bazar
Rab on Friday arrested two men in connection with a case over an attempted rape of a Rohingya girl from Dulahazara area under Chakaria upazila of Cox’s Bazar.
The arrestees have been identified as Md Mahbub, 32, of Chakaria’s Ringvong area and Shah Emran, 35,of Rajghat area under Chattogram’s Lohagara upazila.
According to Rab, the girl is a Rohingya refugee from Kutupalong Camp No 1 in Ukhia upazila of Cox’s Bazar. She fled from the camp and arrived in Chattogram city in search of work on February 5, 2022.
Also read: Man wanted for triple murder held in Sherpur
Failing to find work, she was returning to the camp by a bus on February 11, 2022. The supervisor of the bus ditched her at the Chakaria Bus Terminal as she couldn’t pay the fare.
There, staff from another bus agreed to take her to the camp. She was taken to Batakhali Bridge area under Chakaria municipality in an empty bus and an attempt was made to rape her by the driver, the supervisor and the helper of the bus.
Also read: Driver among 4 held for raping a girl in Chattogram
Locals rescued the girl after hearing her scream and apprehended the helper of the bus while the driver and the supervisor managed to flee. Later, the girl lodged a case with Chakaria police station under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, based on which today’s arrests were made.
The arrestees have confessed their crimes and they’ve been handed over to the local police for further legal procedures.