UCA News
Contribute

Bangladesh charges Rohingya insurgents with murder

Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi and more than 60 others are charged over the murder of an intelligence officer this month
Bangladesh police stand guard during a crackdown against suspected criminals and insurgents in a Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhia in this handout photograph taken on Oct. 28. (Photo: Bangladesh Armed Police Battalion

Bangladesh police stand guard during a crackdown against suspected criminals and insurgents in a Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhia in this handout photograph taken on Oct. 28. (Photo: Bangladesh Armed Police Battalion (APBN/AFP)

Published: November 28, 2022 06:34 AM GMT
Updated: November 28, 2022 06:48 AM GMT

Bangladesh's main military intelligence agency has charged the leader of a Rohingya insurgent group and more than 60 others over the murder of an intelligence officer this month, police said Sunday.

Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi is the founder of the Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Army (ARSA), which is fighting for an independent homeland in Myanmar's Rakhine state for the much-persecuted Rohingya Muslim community.

Almost a million of the stateless Rohingya minority live in squalid conditions in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh's southeast after fleeing violence and discrimination in neighboring Myanmar.

A team of elite Bangladeshi police conducted an anti-drug raid at one of the camps on November 14.

Police said Rizwan Rushdie, a senior officer the of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, was shot and then hacked to death by alleged ARSA members. A Rohingya woman was also killed in the raid.

"Ataullah was there during the attack," police inspector Mohammad Shahjahan told AFP. "He is the chief accused in the murder."

A total of 31 others, including ARSA members, were also charged with murder, he said, along with at least 30 unidentified attackers.

It is the first time that Ataullah has been charged with any offense by Bangladeshi authorities, but he has been implicated in other killings.

ARSA has been accused of assassinating political opponents, running narcotics and instilling a climate of fear in the camps.

A series of ARSA attacks against Myanmar security posts in 2017 prompted a brutal crackdown by the military that forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.

Ataullah was also accused of masterminding the murder of Mohib Ullah, a top Rohingya civilian leader, in September 2021.

ARSA has repeatedly denied the allegations on its Twitter account, saying it has only been working "for reinstating the legitimate rights of Rohingya".

AFP was unable to contact the group for comment about the charges against Ataullah.

Bangladesh security forces arrested hundreds of suspected ARSA members in the camps after Mohib Ullah's murder.

Help UCA News to be independent
Dear reader,
Lent is the season during which catechumens make their final preparations to be welcomed into the Church.
Each year during Lent, UCA News presents the stories of people who will join the Church in proclaiming that Jesus Christ is their Lord. The stories of how women and men who will be baptized came to believe in Christ are inspirations for all of us as we prepare to celebrate the Church's chief feast.
Help us with your donations to bring such stories of faith that make a difference in the Church and society.
A small contribution of US$5 will support us continue our mission…
William J. Grimm
Publisher
UCA News
Asian Bishops
Latest News
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia