The Bangladesh Coast Guard arrested two individuals, suspected to be human traffickers, during an operation in Teknaf under Cox鈥檚 Bazar district on Tuesday morning.
The Coast Guard also rescued five individuals during an operation from a hideout the traffickers maintained at the remote hills of Baharchhara on Monday night.
Lieutenant Commander Siam-ul-Haq, media officer of the Coast Guard Headquarters, confirmed the matter on Tuesday.
鈥楤ased on intelligence, a special operation was carried out by the Coast Guard at Kachchhpia hill in Baharchhara under Teknaf upazila at about 10:00pm,鈥� he said.
Five people were rescued during the operation, he said.
鈥楲ater, another operation was launched based on the information provided by the victims. Two traffickers were arrested during the raid at about 9:00am on Tuesday,鈥� added the Coast Guard official.
According to the Coast Guard, the five victims were abducted from Teknaf and other areas and held captive in the hilly hideout with the intention to traffick them to Malaysia by sea.
Traffickers also tried to extort ransom from the victims.
Lieutenant Commander Siam-ul-Haq also said that the victims were handed over to their respective families while taking legal action against the arrestees was under way.
Earlier, on Sunday, the Bangladesh Border Guard and the Rapid Action Battalion in a joint operation arrested three human traffickers and rescued 84 people who were being held captive in the remote hills of Teknaf for trafficking to Malaysia or Thailand.
On September 18, the Bangladesh Coast Guard and the Bangladesh Navy in a joint raid rescued 66 people, including women and children, held captive in the remote hills of Teknaf for trafficking.
