Twenty Rohingya refugees have been caught by members of the Ansar force in Chattogram after fleeing the settlement on Noakhali's Bhasan Char island.
They were subsequently handed over to the police on Saturday, six days after another group of refugees were apprehended while absconding from the island.
Among the detainees, five are women, four men and 11 children, said Inspector Helal Uddin Farooqui of Zorarganj police, reports bdnews24.com.
They were detained in the under-construction Bangabandhu Industrial Area (Mirsarai Economic Zone) in Mirsarai's Zorarganj.
"The refugees fled Bhasan Char on a trawler. They were trying to go to Teknaf from the Mirsarai Industrial Area," he said.
On Jul 11, a group of 18 Rohingya men, women and children had similarly escaped from the island before being caught by the authorities. Earlier on July 3, locals apprehended seven Rohingya from Sandwip Upazila's South Urirchar and put them into police custody.
Zorarganj Police OC Nur Hossain Mamun said, “The Rohingya group was walking down the seashore on the west side of the industrial area. Seeing their suspicious movements, the Ansar members on duty there stopped and interrogated them. ”
They later admitted to being Rohingya refugees and were consequently detained by the Ansar personnel.
Police later sent the Myanmar nationals to a court after starting a case against them under the Foreigners Act.
The government, at a cost of over Tk 23 billion, has set up the infrastructure of 120 cluster villages across 13,000 acres of the island to accommodate more than 100,000 people.
Relocation of the Myanmar ethnic minority members from crammed refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar began in December last year.
