Bangladeshi elite force on Monday arrested the financial coordinator and personal assistant of the chief of Myanmar militant group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) detained Mohammad Ershad alias Noman Chowdhury during an operation in the Kutupalong Rohingya camp of southeast Cox's Bazar district, RAB said in a media briefing at the coastal district.
Nearly 1.2 million Rohingya live in Bangladesh, the majority of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine in Aug. 2017. Most of them are housed in overcrowded camps in Cox's Bazar district, but around 30,000 have been relocated to the island of Bhasan Char since late 2020.
The suspect, during primary interrogation, admitted his association with the militant group and his role in fundraising.
Mohammad Ershad is also allegedly involved in the killing of an army intelligence officer in November 2022 in the hilly southeast Bandarban district.
According to Bangladeshi law enforcement, ARSA insurgent groups are active in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State, but in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, they have locked horns to establish supremacy in the refugee camps.
The group is allegedly responsible for leading criminal activities, kidnappings, and killings, according to police. Numerous insurgent groups from Myanmar's northern Rakhine State are active in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, including those seeking control over refugee camps.
