Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested seven people, including an alleged chief coordinator of an international human trafficking syndicate, in simultaneous drives on Saturday night in Madaripur, Gupalgonj and Dhaka.

The arrestees were identified as chief coordinator “Rubel Syndicate” Md. Ashiq, known as ‘Euro Ashik’ , 25, Md. Azizul Haque,35, Md Mizanur Rahman Mizan, 43, Nazmul Huda, 31, Sima Akhter,23, Helena Begum, 42, and Polly Akhter,43.

The elite force said it also recovered 17 passports, 14 cheque books of various banks, Tk 56,670 in cash and other documents from their possessions.

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The drives came amid reports of growing incidents of trafficking people luring them with jobs abroad.

Some 43 people were killed / missing when a boat capsized off the coast of Tunisia on June 28-29 last month while going to Europe illegally. Besides, some 84 people were rescued from a wrecked boat off the coast of Tunisia. Among them were citizens of Bangladesh, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea and Chand.

The deaths due to movements of illegal migrants on risky routes were critically highlighted in international and domestic media.

In the past too, RAB has been able to arrest several members of such Bangladeshi human trafficking syndicate. The racket takes huge amount of money by fraud from innocent people.

Also read: Law Minister seeks coordinated response against human trafficking

In the wake of the alleged fraud, cases have been filed by relatives of the victims in Bangladesh at various times. Complaints have also been received from several families who have gone missing at different times. Accordingly, RAB has intensified its intelligence surveillance.

Based on secret information, a special joint team comprising Intelligence wing of the Rab headquarters and members of Rab-8 battalion, carried out simultaneous drives in Madaripur, Gupalgonj and Dhaka from 10:00 pm on Saturday night and it was continued till 6:00 am on Sunday, said an official of the Rab headquarters.

Interrogation of the arrestees revealed that they have been involved in this crime for a long time luring the victims with lucrative jobs abroad. They work in collaboration with their foreign counterparts, he added.