FBD Desk:

Locals were surprised by the arrest of a Rohingya couple with Tk 1.16 crore and five thousand three hundred pieces of yaba for selling drugs from an aristocratic Chandgaon residential area in Chittagong. Many considered them Bangladeshis because of their physical constitution and language. And they took the opportunity to join the locals. He used to run a drug business in the very center of the city.

After the arrest, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) seized three national identity cards of Bangladesh from them. But after verification and selection, they have been proved to be fake. Besides, the identity in which they rented a house in Chandgaon residential area was also fake.

RAB officials say Shawkat Islam and his wife Morzina are both Myanmar nationals. Shawkat entered Bangladesh illegally in 2006 through the Cox’s Bazar border. From then on he started living in Chittagong city. Morzina took refuge with her family in a Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar from Myanmar in 2012. Later they got married. The couple has been involved in yaba smuggling since their marriage.

RAB-7’s Chandgaon camp commander Flight Lieutenant Ali Ashraf Tushar told Jago News that Shawkat Islam was a member of a yaba smuggling ring in the country. He used to bring yaba from Cox’s Bazar himself. Later, Shawkat used to make arrangements to reach different parts of the country from his home in Chittagong. His wife, Morzina, oversaw the finances of the yaba business.

Meanwhile , after the  arrest of the Rohingya  couple against the city’s Chandgaon police have filed two cases. Abdul Haq. After the case, RAB handed over the two to the police.

Chandgaon police officer in charge (OC) said. Ataur Rahman Khandaker told that the RAB had filed a case against the couple alleging illegal entry into Bangladesh and drug trafficking. Police have already remanded Shawkat Islam’s wife Morzina for two days. Shawkat Islam is being treated at Chittagong Medical College Hospital as he is physically ill. We have received some important information, which is not going to be released right now for the sake of investigation.

Rohingyas are setting up bases in Chittagong ‘invisibly’:

It is difficult to separate the Rohingyas from the Bangladeshis as they have similar language and physical structure with the locals of Chittagong. Besides, the Rohingyas are gradually merging with the locals as the locals do not take the Rohingya identity differently due to lack of awareness. Taking this opportunity, the Rohingya family started drug dealing by renting a house in an elite area like Chandgaon residential area.

RAB official Tushar said Shawkat was a member of the Yaba Syndicate based in Rohingya camps in Myanmar and Cox’s Bazar. He used to bring yaba directly from Cox’s Bazar. Morzina used to help him in this work. They used to move home for three or four months in a row for the yaba business, evading the administration. They were arrested after finding out their whereabouts in the last house number 89 in B-block of Chandgaon residential area. At this time they tried to escape through the bundle window of money.

On Tuesday afternoon, I went to the house number 69 of B-block of Chandgaon residential and saw a quiet silence. Neighbors said the couple never understood that they were not Bangladeshis. They used to move like the locals of Chittagong. However, they did not have much contact with the neighbors.

The doorman of the building, Mahmud Ali, said the family had been renting the house for three months. Their home is in Satkania, Chittagong and they have a business in the city. Sometimes Shawkat would go out for a few days. Sometimes he would say he was going home, sometimes he would say he was going to work. Besides, Mahmud Ali said that such a conversation would not have taken place with him.

Caretaker Aman Ullah told that Shawkat Islam called him three months ago after seeing To-Late. At this time he introduced himself as a resident of Satkania. Later, their house was rented with two months’ advance money. The resident committee has to submit some documents as per the rules. We gave it. But RAB has said that they are all fake.

“The owner of the house, Morsed Iqbal, lives in the United Arab Emirates,” he said. I live in Lalkhan Bazar. I rent a house by talking on my mobile all the time. But I could not imagine that the Rohingya would enter the house in this way. From now on, I will check the documents before renting the house.

Meanwhile, Chandgaon police sub-inspector (SI) Kauser Hamid, who is investigating the case, told Jago News that many locals knew that Shawkat Islam was a Rohingya.

They used to bring yaba in CNG cylinders from Cox’s Bazar:

Flight Lieutenant Ali Ashraf Tushar said Shawkat had been involved in drug trafficking since he came to Bangladesh. He rented a flat and lived for one to two months. Then he would move to another flat so that the law enforcement would not find them. Shawkat himself used to smuggle yaba and control the drug business in Chittagong.

He added that Shawkat used to transport yaba from Cox’s Bazar in mini-trucks, buses and CNG autorickshaw cylinders. Basically these cars run on both oil and gas. The Shawkatas used to fill an empty cylinder of yaba from Cox’s Bazar and fit it in a car. The vehicle was brought to Chittagong with the help of oil. Later they would cut the cylinder and take out the yaba. (Source: Online)