Danida staffer freed from captivity

FE Team | Published: June 29, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

BANDARBAN, Jun 28 (bdnews24.com): Joint forces have rescued Danida driver Mohammad Hanif from captivity, three days after he was abducted along with another staffer, said Chittagong divisional commissioner Mokhlesur Rahman Thursday.
About 200 members of BDR and army launched an operation to rescue another official of Danish International Development Agency (Danida), Hossain Shahid Sumon. A gang of 12 abducted Sumon and Hanif from Khiburipara Monday.
BDR led away some locals and eight officials of local NGOs for interrogation.
Three officials, including Danish Embassy First Secretary Christian Krone JÃ¸rgensen, arrived in Bandarban Wednesday. They then went to Thanchi, where the two were abducted.
The joint forces took Hanif with their team to rescue Sumon. Hanif was rescued from a hilly hideout. An army officer preferring anonymity said they had rescued Hanif from Ongsaprupara.
Bolipara BDR Zonal Commander Lieutenant Colonel Kazi Moazzem said the joint forces raided the likely hideouts of the armed gang in search of Sumon.
Members of the 'People's Party of Arakan' (PPA) are suspected to be the abductors. When the gang picked up the Danida staffers, they left a letter written in the Marma language, giving rise to suspicion about their identity.
In a letter from an undisclosed location, the abductors demanded Tk 40 lakh as ransom, said an official with an NGO, Humanitarian Foundation.
Local NGO workers Shupol Chakma and Omor Chakma said that 10 to 12 armed men stopped the Danida employees on their way back from the project areas. The armed men then looked for a foreign Danida official. After that, they picked up Shahid Sumon and his driver at gunpoint and left the scene aboard a trawler.