3 Myanmarese 'smugglers' held after gunfight with BGB

Three Myanmar nationals were caught and 1.5 lakh yaba tablets and two bullets seized by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) following an alleged gunfight on the Naf river in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf upazila early yesterday.

Meanwhile, in another tip-off-based drive, BGB seized five lakh yaba tablets abandoned in the upazila's Joillar Dwip, 2 BGB Battalion Commanding Officer Lt Col Abujar Al Jahid told The Daily Star.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

Lance Naik Jahirul Islam, habildar Md Ashraful Islam and sepoy Md Shamim suffered wrist injuries while their boatman nearly lost a finger in the first incident, he said. They were treated at Teknaf Sadar Hospital.

Of the detainees, Yunus, 45, son of Rahmat Ali; was shot in the throat and was sent to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital.

He and the other two, Nurul Haque, 30, and Anowar, 27, are all from Sudhapara in Sittwe.

A four-member BGB team hid inside a mangrove bush near a forest office in Netong Para and signalled a boat coming from Myanmar to stop when the latter took a u-turn on seeing them around 5:00am, said the official.

Three shots were fired from the boat at the BGB men, prompting the latter to fire back 10 rounds, he said, adding that one man jumped into the river and swam away before the BGB team could paddle out to the boat.

The BGB men suffered the injuries on their left hands while trying to subdue the Myanmar nationals who hit out with paddles, he said. The yaba and bullets were found in the boat, said the official.

On Thursday, an elderly Rohingya woman was killed while three Myanmarese citizens and a Bangladeshi were hit by bullets when alleged yaba smugglers and BGB personnel "exchanged fire" at Shah Parir Dwip in Teknaf.

The BGB team also recovered 28,000 yaba tablets.

On Sunday, Rapid Action Battalion seized around 20 lakh yaba tablets from a fishing trawler and detained nine alleged drug peddlers in the Bay of Bengal.