2 men shot dead in factional clash in Bangladesh hills
Security forces reluctant to track down the assailants
Our Bureau
AGARTALA, December 29 2021: Two men have been shot dead in a gun fight in Bangladesh’s restive Chittagong Hill Tracts Wednesday. The incident occurred in Rangamati district’s Baghaichhari hills, country’s police said.
They informed two armed groups representing United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF) and Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS) respectively got engaged in a broad daylight clash. One of the victims has been identified as a member of the UPDF while the other remained unidentified.
The armed groups disappeared before Bangladesh security forces reached the scene. UPDF and PCJSS are allegedly in possession of huge cache of arms and ammunition despite a peace accord was signed two decades ago to end insurgency in the hills divided into three districts situated in close proximity of Tripura state.
It is alleged that Bangladesh armed forces despite their huge deployment in the hills are reluctant to resort to action against the regional armed groups as a ploy to encourage ethnic groups to settle internal score through means of violence.