Armed attack on RAB members in Salimpur jungle: One officer killed, 4 injured

Staff Correspondent

A RAB officer was killed in an attack by miscreants while conducting a weapons recovery operation in Jangal Salimpur of Sitakunda Upazila of Chittagong. The name of the deceased officer is Abdul Motaleb. He was serving as the Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) of RAB-7. Several other RAB members were injured in the incident.

The incident occurred on the evening of Monday, January 19th.

In the afternoon, a team of RAB’s Patenga Battalion conducted a raid in the jungle Salimpur area to arrest the accused. During this, the miscreants detained and beat up four RAB officers and members and a source. Later, on receiving information, additional police and RAB forces reached the spot, rescued the hostages and sent them to the Combined Military Hospital. There, the doctor declared Abdul Motaleb dead.

Chittagong Range Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Ahsan Habib Palash told the media that a DAD-rank RAB officer was killed during an operation conducted in the Salimpur jungle of Sitakunda.

In this regard, RAB-7 Assistant Director (Media) ARM Muzaffar Hossain said in a statement sent to the media, “During an operation in the Salimpur jungle, RAB members came under an ambush by terrorists. Four people were seriously injured. One of them died while undergoing treatment. The other three injured are currently undergoing treatment at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.”

According to police and RAB sources, when RAB members entered the Salimpur jungle to retrieve weapons, the terrorists stationed there suddenly attacked them. At one stage, they kidnapped some RAB members and opened fire in public.

There are two powerful parties behind this criminal empire. ‘Alinagar Bahumukhi Samiti’ is led by identified terrorist Jamaatist Md. Yasin Mia and ‘Mahanagar Chinnamoool Bastibasi Sangram Parishad’ is controlled by BNP supporters Kazi Mashiur and Gazi Sadek. The number of members in these two associations is about 30 thousand. There is a large group led by North District Jubo Dal Joint General Secretary Md. Rokon Uddin and Golam Gafur against Yasin.

The location of Jangal Salimpur is about two kilometers west of Bayezid Bostami area of ​​Chittagong city, on the north side of Link Road opposite Asian Women’s University. Although this area of ​​about 3,100 acres falls administratively in Sitakunda, it is mainly located inside the city. It is bordered by Hathazari Upazila to the east and Bayezid Bostami Thana to the south.

Due to its remote mountainous terrain, the Salimpur jungle has long been known as a safe haven for terrorists. Since the political upheaval on August 5 last year, clashes and killings over control of the area have increased.

Recently, there was a clash and shooting between two sides of the terrorists over control. One person was killed. The next day, two journalists were attacked and beaten by the terrorists while they were covering the scene.

Over the past four decades, thousands of illegal settlements have been built here by cutting down government hills. Plot trading is still going on by cutting down hills. A strong terrorist force has been formed in the area to sustain this illegal occupation and trade. These terrorists are under armed guard all the time. Identity cards have been made mandatory for the locals, no outsider can enter easily.

Even police and district administration officials have been attacked several times during raids there.

Earlier, on September 14, 2023, at least 20 people, including the then Executive Magistrate of the district administration Md. Umar Faruk, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Sitakunda Police Station Tofail Ahmed, were injured while returning from the hill after evacuating illegal structures in the Chhinnamul Baraitala No. 2 community area of ​​​​Jangal Salimpur. At that time, cocktails and brickbats were thrown at the administration officials. The police opened fire to control the situation.

Earlier, on February 4, 2022, there was an exchange of fire between RAB and terrorists in the Salimpur jungle. On August 2 of the same year, district administration officials were stopped on their way back from an illegal house eviction operation. Then, on September 8, 2022, terrorists there attacked the police while they were evicting illegal settlements in the Alinagar area.