5 CU students 'abducted' in Khagrachhari after Biju festival

Five students of Chittagong University were allegedly abducted in Khagrachhari while returning to campus after attending the Biju festival.

Chittagong Hill Tracts Student Council (PCP-JSS), CU branch claimed the students were abducted by members of the United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) in the Giriful area.

The allegation was made by Ribeka Chakma, secretary of the university branch of the PCP-JSS.

In a press release, they said the five abducted students had gone to visit Baghaichhari in Rangamati on the occasion of the Biju festival. After the festival, on April 15, they returned from Baghaichhari to Dighinala and then to Khagrachhari Sadar, intending to travel back to the CU campus.

That day, they were unable to secure a bus ticket to Chattogram and spent the night at a relative's house in Kukichhara, a short distance from Khagrachhari town.

Around 6:30am, while traveling from Kukichhara to Khagrachhari Sadar, the five students -- along with the three-wheeler (TomTom) driver -- were abducted by the members of the UPDF, said the press release.

The abducted students are Aldrin Tripura, student of the Department of Fine Arts; Moitreemoy Chakma, Department of Drama; Dibi Chakma, Department of International Relations; Rison Chakma, Department of International Relations; Longi Mro, Department of Zoology.

All are students of the 2023–2024 session. Among them, Rison Chakma is a member of the PCP-JSS Chittagong University branch.

Contacted, UPDF spokesperson Angya Marma denied any involvement in the incident. "We have no involvement with the abduction," he said.

Superintendent of Police in Khagrachhari, Md Arefin Jewel, said, "We have received reports of five students being abducted. However, no one has filed a complaint with us yet. Still, we are trying to trace their location using technology."