Rab arrests ‘Arsa leader, aide’ in Cox’s Bazar

Rab claimed to have arrested the chief of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army's torture cell along with his cohort.

Osman alias Salman Murabbi, 50, is also the head of Arsa's ulama body and an accused in the killing of a Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) official, said Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of Rab's law and media wing, at a press conference in Cox's Bazar yesterday.

Moin said that based on the information given by Salman after his arrest on Thursday night, a team of Rab-15 raided Kutupalong refugee camp-4 extension area in Ukhiya upazila and recovered four firearms, nine bullets, several sharp weapons, and torture equipment of Arsa's torture cell.

Another Arsa activist Md Yunus, 24, was arrested from the cell on a hill in Rajapalong union of the upazila, he said.

Moin said the arrestees were Myanmar nationals.

Salman entered Bangladesh illegally with his family in 2017 and started living in Block-D/4 of Refugee Camp-13 in Thaingkhali. He joined Arsa in 2018, the Rab official said.

He added that they used to torture Rohingyas and their members, who want to quit the group, by confining them to the torture cell.

Moin said Salman was directly involved in the murder of a senior DGFI officer in an attack during a joint anti-narcotics drive in November 2022 and was accused in six criminal cases, including murder and kidnapping, with different police stations of Cox's Bazar.

The arrestees were later handed over to the police.

Arsa is an armed group that emerged in Rakhine state in 2013.