'Top leader' of trafficking gang held

Police yesterday arrested an alleged top leader of an international human trafficking gang in the district's Teknaf upazila.

Acting on a tip-off, police caught Hasem Prakash alias Poya Majhi, 46, son of Abu Taher of Shah Parir Dwip, from Pandel Para village around 2:30pm, said Ataur Rahman Khandakar, officer-in-charge of Teknaf Model Police Station.

Police had been looking for Hasem for long as his name was listed as a trafficker by the home ministry, the police official said.

The arrestee stands accused in seven human trafficking cases with the police station, according to police.

Locals said Hasem was a Myanmar national who had entered Bangladesh around three decades ago and had started living in Shah Parir Dwip area of Teknaf.

He first began working in a fishing trawler and then gradually got involved in the human trafficking, they added.

Hasem would be produced before a court tomorrow [today], said the OC.