News No. 118/2013, Tuesday, October
01, 2013
TWO Jumma shopkeepers have been
tortured by army in Kalapani area under Ramgarh Upazila of Khagrachari
district.
The victims have been identified as
Ada Marma, 40, son of Usha Marma and Mongshajai Marma, 50, son of Pod Marma.
They own shops in the village of Tila Para.
According to eyewitnesses’ account,
a group of army personnel from Batnatoli camp appeared at their shops at about
9:30am today, on receiving a false tip-off about extortion, and began
interrogating people about it.
“The soldiers asked Ada and
Mongshajai ‘who have committed extortion here’, and when they replied that
there had been no incidents of extortion at their shops, the army became
furious and beat them up.” one villager told chtnews.com on condition of
anonymity.
Later the army took Ada Marma to
Batnatoli camp and then transferred him to Guimara zone headquarters.
However, he was released from there
at 12 noon in the presence of local elders.
The United Peoples’ Democratic Front
(UPDF) in a statement issued to the media has condemned the torture of the two
innocent Jumma shopkeepers.
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