‘Yasin Bahini opens fire’ on RAB camp in Jungle Salimpur
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has claimed that members of the criminal group known as “Yasin Bahini” opened fire on a RAB camp in Jungle Salimpur of Sitakunda, Chattogram, late Sunday night.
According to RAB, the attack took place around 2:00am. The force said its members returned fire in self-defence. However, no information about casualties was immediately available.
RAB-7 Chattogram Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Hafizur Rahman disclosed the matter in a text message sent to various media outlets around 3:30am. Additional forces have since been deployed in the area.
Jungle Salimpur is located along a road branching off from the Bayezid–Faujdarhat link road, opposite the Asian University for Women, leading into the hills. The area is mainly divided into two sections — Jungle Salimpur and Alinagar.
According to the district administration, around 3,100 acres of government land are located there. For years, the area has remained under the control of various land grabbers and armed groups.
On 9 March this year, around 3,200 personnel from the army, RAB, police and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) carried out a joint operation and took control of the area for the first time. Previous attempts had failed, with police and administrative officials coming under attack during earlier drives.
Following the latest operation, many of the armed group members reportedly went into hiding. Since then, two separate checkpoints jointly operated by RAB and police have been set up at SM Pilot High School and Alinagar High School in Jangal Salimpur.
Although 22 people were arrested during the 9 March operation, several alleged criminal leaders — including Yasin Bahini chief Mohammad Yasin, Rokon Bahini chief Rokon Uddin, Mashiyur Rahman, Nurul Haque Bhandari, Gazi Sadeq and Golam Gafur — remain absconding.
Local residents said that before the operation, the “Chhinnamul” area of Jangal Salimpur was controlled by Rokon’s group, while Alinagar was under the control of Yasin Bahini.