RAB official killed in attack during operation in Jungle Salimpur, Chattogram
A Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) official was killed in an attack by miscreants while conducting an arms recovery operation in Jungle Salimpur, Sitakunda, Chattogram.
He has been identified as Abdul Motaleb. He served as the deputy assistant director of RAB–7. Several others were injured in the incident. This occurred on Monday evening.
When contacted, Ahsan Habib Polash, deputy inspector general (DIG) of Chattogram Range, told Prothom Alo at 8:00 pm that a RAB officer of the DAD rank was killed during the operation in Jungle Salimpur, Sitakunda.
In a statement sent to the media at 8:30 pm, ARM Mozaffar Hossain, assistant director (media) of RAB–7, stated that RAB members were attacked by terrorists while conducting an operation in Jungle Salimpur.
Four were seriously injured in the attack, including one RAB member who later died while undergoing treatment. The remaining three are being treated at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
Police and RAB sources said that when RAB conducted an arms recovery operation in Jungle Salimpur, miscreants present there launched a sudden attack on them. At one point, several RAB members were taken hostage, and firing was carried out openly.
Jungle Salimpur is located two kilometres west of Bayezid Bostami in Chattogram city, opposite Asian Women University, on the northern side of Link Road, covering an area of 3,100 acres.
Although it is in Sitakunda, it is largely inside the city. To the east lies Hathazari upazila and to the south, Bayezid police station.
Due to its remote hilly terrain, the area has become a safe haven for terrorists. Since 5 August last year, following changes in national politics, the area has witnessed clashes and killings over control. Recently, gunfights erupted between two factions of terrorists over territory, resulting in one death. The next day, two journalists were attacked while preparing a report there.
Over the past four decades, thousands of illegal settlements have been established by cutting hills. Hill cutting and plot trading continue, and to maintain control over this trade, terrorist groups have been formed in the area. The area remains under constant armed guard by these groups.
Residents require ID cards to enter; outsiders cannot enter. Even police and district administration personnel have been attacked multiple times while trying to enter.
On 14 September 2023, while returning from clearing illegal settlements in Chhinnamul Boroitola 2, at least 20 officials, including the then Executive Magistrate Md Umar Faruk and Sitakunda police officer-in-charge (OC) Tofail Ahmed, were injured in an attack. Residents of the area also threw crude bombs and bricks at administration officials, and police fired shots to control the situation.
Earlier, on 4 February 2022, gunfire exchanges occurred between RAB and terrorists in Jungle Salimpur. On 2 August 2022, the district administration faced obstruction while returning from an illegal housing demolition operation. On 8 September 2022, terrorists in Alinagar attacked police while administration officials tried to remove illegal settlements there.
It is notable that a report titled “Armed gang control area in Chattogram, attack police, administration on entry” was published in Prothom Alo on 21 October last year.