A 36-year-old shopkeeper from Banshkhali, Chattogram, who was abducted by four men posing as members of the Special Response Battalion (SRB), has been rescued from Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar.
Police arrested the alleged mastermind—a former army member who previously served in the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the force recently rebranded as the SRB—along with five others, Prothom Alo reported.
Md. Ehsan Prakash Hasan, a South Africa returnee who opened a hardware shop in Puichhari Prembazar after spending 12 years abroad, was taken away from the market around 8:25 pm last Saturday. The four abductors, dressed in black and wearing masks, introduced themselves as SRB personnel and handcuffed him before driving him away.
The group later contacted Hasan’s family from multiple phone numbers, demanded Tk 20 lakh as ransom, and threatened to kill him if the money was not paid. A case was filed at Banshkhali police station on Monday.
Acting on the complaint, law-enforcement teams launched a rescue operation and recovered Hasan from Teknaf on Tuesday night. He was brought to Banshkhali police station and later shifted to hospital for treatment. Police confirmed the recovery in a press release issued around 3:30 pm on Wednesday through the Bangladesh Police verified Facebook page.
According to the statement, the six people arrested in connection with the abduction are:
- Sumon Munshi (32), the alleged mastermind and a former army member who served in RAB (now SRB)
- Mizanur Rahman (29)
- Joynal Uddin (28)
- Md. Abbas Uddin (31)
- Md. Salim alias Selim (30)
- Delwar Hossain (40)
Banshkhali police Officer-in-Charge Md. Rabiul Haque said further details of the operation would be disclosed on Thursday.
The incident has drawn attention because the abductors used the name and appearance of the SRB—the newly rebranded version of the controversial Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)—to carry out the kidnapping and extortion.