Four abducted over alleged yaba theft, two beaten to death and buried

Four people were abducted and taken to a hill in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, where they were tortured over allegations of stealing a consignment of yaba. Two of them were beaten to death and buried in pits dug into the hillside. Police recovered their bodies during an operation on Wednesday. Two others were rescued alive in injured condition.

At around 9:00 am on Wednesday, police rescued two people alive and recovered one body from Villager Para near the West Pankhali Forest Beat Office in Hnila union of Teknaf upazila. Later in the afternoon, another body was recovered from the Bara Lechupran area.

The deceased were identified as Moktar Ahmad (48), son of deceased Abdu Salam from the Doinggyakata area of Whykong union, and Mohammad Akbar (30), son of Kalu Fakir.

The injured survivors were identified as Ali Ahmad (40), son of deceased Amir Hossain from the Tulatoli area of Whykong, and Md Ilias (35), son of Abul Hossain.

Police and local residents said 30,000 yaba pills were allegedly stolen from a consignment while it was being transported through the Whykong checkpost. Following a dispute with the owners of the yaba consignment over the alleged theft, the four men were abducted on Monday night.

They were subsequently held in a remote hilly area of Hnila and beaten. At one point, two of them died from the torture. Their bodies were then buried in pits dug into the hillside.

According to injured survivor Ilias, eight people had taken responsibility for transporting a 10-kilogram yaba consignment through the Whykong checkpost. During the process, three kilograms of yaba were allegedly stolen from the consignment.

He said the owners of the yaba consignment abducted four of them over the incident. They were held in the hills and beaten. He also claimed that the perpetrators were armed with firearms.

Ilias further said Mizan from the Tulatoli area handed them over to a group in Hnila in the name of arranging a settlement. Members of that group later took them to the hills and tortured them.

At one point, Moktar Ahmad and Mohammad Akbar died. The perpetrators then blindfolded the two injured survivors and took them in a CNG-run auto-rickshaw before abandoning them at Villager Para in the West Pankhali area.

On Wednesday morning, local farmers found them lying there and informed the police. A team led by Teknaf Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Saiful Islam went to the scene and rescued two people alive while recovering one body.