14 Rohingyas detained in Sylhet

Police detained 14 Rohingyas, including six children, from Mamtajganj area of Kanaighat upazila in Sylhet early yesterday.

They also detained a microbus driver and another man who is supposedly an associate of the Rohingya group.

Md Shamsuddoha, officer-in-charge (OC) of Kanaighat Police Station, said that the group claimed they were trying to cross the border into India, and they are from a Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar.

The OC said, “At around 3am, we were informed that a group of people were at the riverside at Mamtajganj bazar area. After detaining them, Police identified that 14 of them are Rohingyas while the driver and the other man are locals.”

In the group, there are five men, three women, two girls and four boys, the OC said.

Earlier on January 20 this year, a family of six Rohingyas were detained from Sylhet city who claimed that they entered Bangladesh from India to make their way to the Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar.

Being asked, the OC said, “We have not confirmed where they came from and where they intended to go. There is a possibility that they entered from India illegally through the border but it will be confirmed later as we are still quizzing them.”

“We have already made contact with the authorities of the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar and after questioning, we will send them to the camps soon,” he said.