33 rescued while being trafficked to Malaysia, 1 held

Police in a drive rescued 33 Bangladeshis while they were being trafficked to Malaysia via the sea route from Ramu upazila of Cox’s Bazar last night.
The law enforcers also detained a trafficker while others managed to flee the scene, our Cox’s Bazar correspondent reports quoting Saikul Ahmed Bhuiyan, officer-in-charge of Ramu Police Station.
Acting on a tip-off, a police team launched a drive in Himchchari area around 11:00pm and conducted the rescue operation, he said. “They were going to Malaysia on a trawler.”
During primary quizzing, the trafficker and the victims admitted that they gathered in the area to board a small trawler and travel to Malaysia without valid documents, the OC said.
“They each paid the traffickers Tk 10,000 to Tk 1 lakh,” the official added quoting the victims hailed from Narsingdi, Chittagong, Jhenidah, Comilla, Jessore, Narail, Kishoreganj and Bogra districts.
A case was filed with the police station. Procedures were underway to produce the victims and the human trafficker to a local court when this report was filed at 11:00am today.