Traffickers treated them like prisoners
Traffickers treated them like prisoners
says one of the 600 ffortune seekers rescued by navy
Imtiaz Ahmed Bubul had to spend two days on a small engine boat, with his head tucked between the knees for almost the whole time.
He was not allowed to lift his head or move his hands as that might draw attention of fishing trawlers in the Bay of Bengal.
There were around a dozen more like him on the boat. And every one of them shared the same experience.
“I could not stay like that for long. My back would hurt. But every time I would raise my head to straighten up, the broker on the boat would hit me in the head with a plastic pipe,” said the 20-year-old who hails from Jessore’s Bagharpara village.
Imtiaz was one of the 600 fortune seekers who were rescued from a trawler in the Bay by Bangladesh Navy on Monday while being taken to Malaysia illegally.
Lured by a broker couple of the same village, Imtiaz’s parents sent him to Malaysia for Tk 2 lakh. The money would be paid after he landed in Malaysia. His cousin Tutul was with him too.
“New danger would unfold with every passing moment,” said Imtiaz, who passed through the hands of three groups of brokers to reach Teknaf from Jessore.
Each group was worse than the previous. In Teknaf, Imtiaz told the brokers that he wanted to return home, but only to be violently beaten up and held captive.
He could not recall how long he had been kept there.
Then on one night, he was put on board a small fishing trawler, and from there on to a cargo vessel in the Bay.
Imtiaz was horrified when he stepped on to the deck. The vessel was crammed with people. Men, women, children, old and young -- all were stuffed on the boat.
He later learnt that they all were brought to the vessel in groups from Cox's Bazar, much like the way he was.
The traffickers would treat them ruthlessly.
Just when Imtiaz started losing all hope, Navy ship BNS Durjoy appeared on the horizon.
After more than 12 hours' chase, the Navy men rescued them.
“I dodged death,” Imtiaz said.
CASES FILED
Two separate cases have been filed against 85 Myanmar and Bangladeshi nationals two days after nearly 600 people were rescued while being trafficked to Malaysia.
Lieutenant Commander M Mahbubur Rahman, executive officer of BNS Durjoy, the navy ship that intercepted the Myanmar cargo carrier, lodged the cases with Patenga Police Station yesterday morning.
A total of 82 Myanmar nationals including 19 women were sued for illegal entry into Bangladesh while 17 people from both the countries including three Bangladeshis were accused in another case filed for human trafficking.
Fourteen Myanmar nationals were accused in both cases, officer-in-charge (OC) Kazi Shahabuddin of Patenga PS said.
“The Navy handed over 592 people to us on Tuesday night. Out of them 85 are accused in both cases,” he said.
A total of 85 detained people and 12 Myanmar infants were produced before the court, the OC said adding that they would seek seven-day remand against each of the 17 accused for human trafficking.
The rescued 495 Bangladeshi nationals including 14 women and 21 children were released in the morning after interrogation, he added.
The Bangladeshi fortune seekers were collected from different places across the country by traffickers and taken to different spots at Teknaf to be sent to the trawler through small boats 10 to 12 days ago, the victims said.
Traffickers lured many of victims by promising them attractive jobs in Malaysia while some were kidnapped or taken forcefully.