3 Rohingyas held with Bangladeshi passports, 4 with NIDs in Chattogram
It is alleged that with the help of local public representatives and election officials Rohingyas are being included in the country’s voter list and getting Bangladeshi passports
Police in separate drives detained three Rohingyas with Bangladeshi passports and four others with Bangladeshi National ID cards in Chattogram on Thursday.
In the first case, three were detained on Mir Filling Station premises on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway at around 11pm with Bangladeshi passports.
The detainees are Mohammed Yusuf, Mohammed Musa and Mohammed Aziz – all from Hakimpara Rohingya camp in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, said Mostafizur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Akbazar Shah police station.
“They used Senbagh upazila of Noakhali as their address in the passports though they are Rohingyas,” he said.
Another Rohingya named Shafiual Alam was also detained on Thursday from Mansurabad passport office of the city while trying to obtain a passport.
In a separate drive, a team of Bayezid police station detained four Rohingyas from Burma Colony area with Bangladeshi NID cards on the same day.
The detainees are Achhia Khatun, 90, Peroja Begum, 50, Mohammad Arafat, 22, and Achhia Begum, 18.
They said they came from Cox’s Bazar Rohingya refugee camp at Burma Colony to visit their relatives.
“As per law, Rohingyas cannot come out of the camps. We are also investigating how they got the identity cards,” said Ataur Rahman Khandakar, officer-in-charge of Bayezid Bostami police station.
It is alleged that with the help of local public representatives and election officials Rohingyas are being included in the country’s voter list and getting Bangladeshi passports.
A team of Election Commission is investigating 73 such suspicious voters found on the commission’s server in Chattogram.
Chattogram District Election Officer Munir Hussain Khan could not confirm how their information was uploaded into the Election Commission database.
Earlier, at least 243 Rohingyas were allegedly enlisted as voters with the help of local public representatives in Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati and Bandarban districts.
The Election Commission launched an investigation but could not make any headway so far.
