Two 'traffickers' held in Dhaka

Rapid Action Battalion claimed to have arrested two members of a human trafficking gang in the capital, who were trying to traffic four Rohingya women to Saudi Arabia by forging documents.

Abdul Hamid, 30, of Cox's Bazar and Riad Hossain, 34, were arrested around 9:15pm on Tuesday from Khilgaon area, said Lt Col Emranul Hasan, commanding officer of Rab-3.

Rab also seized 33 passports and forged copies of NIDs and birth certificates from them, he added.

The commanding officer said Hamid took the Rohingya women to his Khilgaon residence from Teknaf camp with the help of his accomplices in Cox's Bazar -- Zahid and Mominul -- in early March.

Riad, a broker who runs a photocopy shop near Keraniganj passport office, submitted their passport applications to the office through forging documents, including birth certificates and NIDs.

The gang chose Rohingya women to send to Saudi Arabia as they usually do not complain or seek legal help even after facing torture there, the Rab official said. 

In primary interrogation, the arrestees told Rab that they had sent at least 20 women to Saudi Arabia but officials are yet to verify whether they were Rohingyas.

The Rab official said they used to make a profit of Tk 15,000 for sending each woman abroad.

The rescued women will be sent to a Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar soon, Rab said.