Former RAB Member Leads Notorious Kidnapping Ring

Rafiqul Islam Selim, Daily Inqilab

Suman Munshi comes from Kashiani in Gopalganj. He was once a member of the army and later moved to the RAB. He served in Ukhiya and Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar. There he grew close to a criminal gang based in the Rohingya camps and got involved in many crimes. His name came up in cases of yaba smuggling, human trafficking and other wrongdoing. The RAB pulled him out after he was caught in a crime, and he also lost his army job.

He went to jail for various crimes. In jail, he met other dangerous criminals and grew close to them. After he came out, he became even more reckless and built a criminal gang. He is the leader of that gang. Under his lead, the gang began to kidnap people for ransom, rob people, commit banditry and smuggle yaba. The gang used the Rohingya camps as a safe haven for these crimes. It kidnapped tourists, businessmen and other people from Cox’s Bazar and nearby areas and held them hostage in the camps. Then it took huge sums of ransom.

The former RAB member ran this booming kidnapping trade under the name of SRB. His latest case was in Banshkhali, Chattogram. He took a rich businessman from there and collected Tk 20 lakh as ransom. Suman Munshi was caught over this case, and police also arrested five of his aides. Police are now getting information about many other crimes of the gang. Chattogram Superintendent of Police Mr. Masud Alam gave full details of the gang at a press conference at his office yesterday, Thursday. The gang is led by the sacked army member.

How the businessman was taken: The scene is Premabazar in Banshkhali, Chattogram, a few days ago at 8:30 pm. Businessman Mr. Mohammad Ehchan, also known as Hasan, was sitting in his shop. Several men in black caps and masks walked into the shop. They said they were SRB members and showed a photo of Mr. Ehchan’s twin brother to confirm who he was. They then pulled his hands behind his back and put handcuffs on him. They dragged him out of the shop. CCTV footage in the shop shows this scene.

According to police, the men first put Mr. Ehchan in an auto rickshaw outside the shop. Later they changed vehicles, took him on a long and winding route and brought him to Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar. About three hours after the kidnapping, from 11:40 pm, they called his wife and the shop manager using different VoIP numbers. They demanded Tk 20 lakh as ransom. They also threatened to kill him if the family did not pay.

The family members at first believed that SRB members had taken him. They contacted the SRB, but the SRB said it had carried out no such operation. Mr. Ehchan’s cousin Mr. Jasim Uddin said the family learned from the administration that the men who took him were not real SRB members. He said the family knew nothing then about who took Mr. Ehchan or why.

Police said a case was filed at Banshkhali Police Station over the incident. A joint team of the district detective branch (DB) and the police station then went into action. With the help of technology, the team arrested six people earlier this week. They caught them from the bus terminal, Banglabazar and Ukhiya Courtbazar areas in Cox’s Bazar. Based on their information, police rescued Mr. Ehchan unhurt at dawn the day before yesterday. They found him in an area near Leda (Alikhali) Rohingya Camp 25 in Teknaf.

Superintendent of Police Mr. Masud Alam said police identified the kidnappers with the help of technology and intelligence information. Police then rescued the kidnapped businessman and arrested six people. He said Suman Munshi, the sacked former army member, once worked in the RAB in the Ukhiya area. At that time, he came to know some people of the Rohingya community. Later, he got involved in different crimes. Reports also say he served jail terms for various crimes.

The Superintendent of Police said Suman Munshi met people involved in different crimes while he was in jail. Later he formed a gang under the name of SRB. So far, police have found 13 cases against him over crimes committed under the false identity of SRB members. Those arrested include Mizanur Rahman from Kutubdia in Cox’s Bazar, Jainal Uddin from Ukhiya, and Md. Abbas Uddin from Banshkhali. They also include Salim, also known as Selim, a resident of Rohingya Camp 26 in Teknaf, and Delwar Hossain from Cox’s Bazar Sadar.

The Superintendent of Police cited information from the arrested people during questioning. He said that before they kidnapped any person, Abbas Uddin and Delwar Hossain watched the person’s movements in different places. They passed the information to Suman. Suman and his aides then kidnapped the person as fake SRB members and held the victim in a Rohingya camp to collect ransom. After the arrests, police seized a private car used in the kidnapping, five black SRB caps, two fake identity cards and one pair of handcuffs.

Police said Suman Munshi faces 13 cases of mugging, banditry and arms law violations. Jainal faces three cases, Selim faces two cases, and Abbas faces one case.