6 arrested over killing of Bangladeshis in Libya

Detectives have arrested six people – including a broker, a trafficker and the owner of a camp in Libya – in connection with the killing of 26 Bangladeshis in Libya.

Abdul Baten, additional commissioner of the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, revealed the information at a press briefing at the DMP Media Centre on Monday afternoon.  

Several teams of the detectives conducted drives in various areas of Dhaka on Sunday, and made the arrests. They also recovered four passports, two mobile sets and two notebooks from their possession, Abdul Baten added. 

The arrestees are: Badsha Mia, Jahangir Mia, Akbar Ali, Sujon, Nazmul Hassan, and Liyakat Sheikh Alias Lipu. Two cases were filed – in this connection – with the Paltan and Tejgaon police stations. Police later took them to court.

Abdul Baten said human traffickers use the Dhaka airport as a route for the trafficking and that is why the detectives launched a shadow investigation after the Libya incident. 

He added that human traffickers have been sending people to Libya from Bangladesh using travel visas, promising them their dreams of working in different states of Libya, and then sending them to Europe from Libya. 

After taking them to Libya, traffickers hold the people hostage in the camps and torture them mercilessly for ransom.

He further said human trafficking gangs record the voices of victims while torturing them, and then they send them to family members prompting them to pay ransoms. After hearing the recordings, family members send money to gangs to keep their relatives alive. 

Abdul Baten said the arrested Akbar trafficked seven people from Madaripur to his brother Amir Hossian in Libya. Another arrestee, Badsha Mia, lived in Libya for 15 years. He had camps in Benghazi and Joyara in Libya. He trafficked people to Libya from different places across the country. 

Keeping people hostage in his camp, he gambled to send people by the sea route to Italy. The four people of Madaripur who were killed in Libya were staying at his camp. 

The arrested Jahangir Alam had been trafficking people by staying in Dhaka. Additionally, he prepared passports and other documents. Then, using these documents, he applied for tourist visas to Libya. ‍After collecting tourist visas, he trafficked people, the police officer added. 

He said the arrested Sujon trafficked victims Echar Uddin, Bijoy and Sajal to Libya. Sajal was injured, and is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Libya. Echar Uddin and Bijoy remain traceless. 

The family of a Libyan people trafficker killed 30 migrants – including 26 Bangladeshis – in revenge for his death at Mizdah on May 28.

For a quite long time, Libya has been a destination for migrants because of its oil-rich economy, and it is also an important route for the people seeking to go to Europe across the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police on Monday arrested three people from different areas of Dhaka in connection with human trafficking and the killing of 26 Bangladeshis in Libya.

The arrestees are Shohag Hossen, Khalid Chawdhury and Sanjida. 

Faruk Hassain, additional superintendent of CID, on Monday said several units of CID carried out drives to arrest those responsible for the recent human trafficking and killing of Bangladeshis in Libya. The drives will continue. 

The CID took charge of 12 cases filed across the country under the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act. Of those, CID had filed three cases at Paltan and Banani Police stations, said a source at the CID.