5 trafficking victims rescued in Cox’s Bazar

In view of the worldwide alarm over human trafficking, five Bangladeshi fortune seekers were rescued early today from Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar.

The victims were identified as Rabiul, 18, and Md Ismail, 15, from Sirajganj, Manjur Biswas, 17, and Rubel, 24, from Jhenaidah, and Nurul Islam, 38, from Joypurhat

A patrol team of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) rescued them from jetty area of Shahparir Dwip around 12:30am and took them to Teknaf BGB-42 battalion headquarters, our Cox's Bazar correspondent reports quoting the unit's commanding officer Lt Col Abu Zar Al-Jahid.

"They were later handed over to Teknaf Police Station," he said. "They were floating in the trawler in the sea for two months."

They said to have told BGB men that they were aboard a trawler bound for voyage to Malaysia as instructed by human traffickers. But the traffickers abandoned them at the jetty area yesterday.