Chittagong Hill Tracts: 15 Indigenous People Kidnapped
Indigenous people from Naniachar under Rangamati Hill district were kidnapped by armed cadres belonging to the United People Democratic Front
On 23 March, eights indigenous people from Naniachar under
Rangamati Hill district were kidnapped by armed cadres belonging to the United
People Democratic Front (UPDF), a pro-government organization of the indigenous
people allegedly working with Bangladesh military and Islamic extremist groups
to undermine the CHT Accord. The persons kidnapped are: Primary school teacher
Praphulla Chakma (50), Ripan Chakma (21), Tejendra Chakma (35), Milan Bihari
Chakma (32), Bilas Chakma (28), Shiru Chakma (25), Dipanyan Chakma (28), and
Sadalya Chakma (30). The kidnappers demanded Tk 5 lakh as ransom for release
of their victims. Nothing was known about the fate of the victims till the compilation
of this report.
In another incident, the UPDF blamed the PCJSS for kidnapping of its 7 supporters on 26 March from the same locality. Information and Publicity Secretary of the PCJSS Mangal Kumar Chakma strongly denied the allegation and said Bangladesh military establishments and a vested interest group of the government often used the UPDF as a tool to carry out crimes like kidnapping of foreign NGO activists one British and Two Danish on 16 February 2001 and demanding huge ransom to justify the Bangladesh military presence in the CHT and disrupt the implementation process of the CHT Accord.
Source: Peace Campaign Group
