Hill Voice, 24 December 2024, Rangamati: It has been alleged that 12 Jumma villagers have been detained by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in No.3 Aimachara Union of Barkal Upazila under Rangamati district along with 130 maunds of sesame of their own Jum and 11 trawler boats.

It is learnt that the arrested Jummas, along with their sesame and boats, were kept in the Bhuatek BGB camp in No.7 Ward of Aimachara Union. A group of BGB personnel led by Subedar Masud of that BGB camp arrested them.

The BGB alleges that the seized sesame seeds are from India.

However, local sources said that the seized sesame seeds were collected by the Jummas from their own Jum farm. They were preparing to take the sesame seeds to Rangamati town in small trawler boats for sale. Today (December 24) at around 4 pm, BGB personnel seized the sesame seeds along with the boats and arrested the owners.

The arrested persons are: 1. Sonadhan Chakma, son of Pahrchan Chakma, village-Bhuatek 2. Chittihala Chakma, son of Biro Nakcha Chakma, village-Bhuatek, 3. Bijoy Lal Chakma, son of Premram Chakma, village-Bhuatek, 4. Buddhadhan Chakma, son of Sadhan Chakma, village-Bhuatek, 5. Sadhan Chakma, son of Premram Chakma, village-Bhuatek, 6. Ira Ranjan Chakma, son of Puccha Muni Chakma, village-Kalaban Chara (Malya Chara), 7. Binoy Shankar Chakma, son of Arun Bikash Chakma, village-Chandavi Ghat, 8. Dev Shankar Chakma, son of Arun Bikash Chakma, village-Chandavi Ghat, 9. Kanti Bijoy Chakma, son of Shib Ratan Chakma, village-Chandavi Ghat, 10. Bimal Chakma, son of Maya Ratan Chakma, village-Bhuatek, 11. Debashish Chakma, son of Dev Shankar Chakma, village-Bhuatek, 12. Lakshmi Ranjan Chakma, son of Sashi Kumar Chakma, village-Bhuatek. They all belong to No.7 Ward of Aimachara Union.

It is reported that the detainees have not been released as of the writing of this report.