April 8, 2024
DHAKA – In the wake of recent bank robberies, abduction and attacks on security personnel, Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed yesterday said a coordinated operation had been launched in Bandarban against regional armed group Kuki-Chin National Front.
“The intelligence agencies, Border Guard Bangladesh, Rab, police, Ansar and army are doing what they should do in their respective fields. The approach is holistic. Bangladesh Army is leading the operation… The operation will continue until the terrorists are eliminated,” he told reporters at Bandarban Cantonment.
Several suspects have been arrested and two firearms recovered, the army chief told reporters in Bandarban.
“We are not declaring a war against any group. We are moving strategically. Whether or not there will be direct confrontation will depend on the situation. The criminals have left their firearms [somewhere] and mingled with the common people.”
Meanwhile, Rab arrested Cheusim Bawm, one of the chief coordinators of Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) central committee, on Saturday night, said Rab-15 Commanding Officer Lt Col HM Sajjad Hossain.
The joint forces surrounded Sharanpara area in Bandarban Sadar before Rab raided Cheusim’s house and found him hiding in a locked cupboard, he told reporters at Bandarban Zilla Parishad office.
An airgun was recovered from the house, he added.
Cheusim, a relative of KNF Chief Nathan Bawm, is a founding member of KNF, he said.
He used to coordinate between the KNF leadership and militant leader Shamim Mahfuz of Jamaatul Ansar Fil Indal Sharqiya, Lt Col Sajjad said.
A contract between KNF and the militant organisation was signed at his house, said the officer.
On April 2 night, a group of armed men broke into the Ruma upazila parishad office and snatched the firearms from security personnel before robbing Sonali Bank and abducting its manager. In less than 16 hours after the incident, groups of armed men robbed Sonali Bank and Krishi Bank in Thanchi.
Then on April 4, gunfights took place between police and an armed group that attacked Thanchi Police Station. The government says the attack and the three bank robberies were carried out by the KNF.
The KNF, thought to be formed by people from the Bawm community in Bandarban, emerged in 2022.
KNF’s media and intelligence wing chief known as Colonel Solomon wrote on the group’s verified Facebook page on Friday that KNF launched the attacks because a committee to restore peace in the region violated an agreement signed between KNF and the committee.
The army chief arrived in Bandarban yesterday morning and coordinated the activities related to the operation against KNF.
He said the army last year took control of the KNF bases and drove its members away.
But they took advantage of the peace talks and engaged in criminal activities, he said.
“We will deal with the situation as per the government’s strategies,” he said.
Whatever is required for the country’s sovereignty and people’s peace must be done, he said, adding that the operation will be conducted with utmost caution so that common people do not suffer.
Meanwhile, the peace committee yesterday issued a statement urging KNF members to lay their weapons down and return to normal life.
The bank robberies in Ramu and Thanchi and attacks on security personnel by KNF members shocked the entire country, it said.
Fear and apprehension were still prevailing among locals in Ruma, Thanchi, and Rowangchhari upazilas yesterday.