'They never blindfolded us'

They were 11 of them, 10 carrying firearms. “They never blindfolded us. They behaved well and food was not a problem. But, as they shifted places repeatedly, we had to walk through the forest day and night,” said Doyasona Chakma on Friday, released 32 days after being abducted.

Doyasona Chakma, Rangamati district unit general secretary of Hill Women’s Federation, and Monty Chakma, general secretary of the platform, were freed around 8:00pm on Thursday in Khagrachhari’s Tetultala area.

The Hill Women’s Federation is an associate wing of local political party, United People's Democratic Front (UPDF).

Upon her release, Doyasona has accused UPDF Gonotantrik Dal of being behind the abduction, and that they were later joined by activists of Jana Sanghati Samity (MN Larma). 

It began when a  group of armed people picked up Doyasona Chakma and Monty Chakma from a house of Rangamati’s Kutukchhari and burnt the house down on 18 March.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Doyasona Chakma said they were first taken to an area near Naniarchar on foot through a hilly path and then by boat from Kutubchhari. 

They were kept in a house on a small island in Kaptai Lake. They were afraid on the first day but later their fears abated. After two days, they were taken to another place by trawler. 

After leaving the trawler, a number of armed persons took them by auto-rickshaw to a certain location from where they walked for two and a half hours, finally reaching a remote village of Mahalchhari in Khagrachhari. They identified the area from their abductors’ conversation. The abductors left before reaching Mahalchhari and another armed group took over.

After a night in a house at Mahalchhari, they walked for two days and nights through a forest and then were kept in different houses in Meroog, Dighinala. They were not kept more than two or three days in a house. No one other than the abductors stayed in these houses. The members of the abduction team also changed. The abductors also questioned them on various issues.

Member secretary of the newly formed UPDF Ganatantrik Dal, Shyamol Chakma, has refuted allegations of their involvement in the abduction. Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said such accusations were false and motivated. He said the two women leaders were abducted due to internal conflict within UPDF itself.

Jana Sanghati Samity (MN Larma) leaders have also denied involvement in the abduction.

*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam and Imam Hossain.