A local leader of the United People’s Democratic Front was detained with bullet injuries after an exchange of gunfire between the UPDF and a faction of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti in a remote area of Guimara in Khagrachari Friday morning.
The detained man Jhimit Chakma was described by police and the UPDF as the Chittagong Hill Tract-based regional political party’s Guimara upazila organiser.
The gunfight reportedly took place at about 7:00am in the remote Paining Para area of Hafchari union.
After receiving information about the clash, army personnel conducted a search operation in the area and recovered Jhimit Chakma with bullet injuries from the scene. He was later taken to Matiranga Upazila Health Complex for treatment.
Guimara police station officer-in-charge Mohammad Sohrawardi said that Jhimit was brought to the police station after medical treatment.
‘He has several cases pending against him,’ the police officer said.
According to local, police and security sources, armed groups have long been active in the remote area, where they are accused of extortion, abduction and other criminal activities.
The clash reportedly erupted over territorial dominance between the UPDF faction led by Prosit Bikash Khisa and a rival JSS faction.
Police alleged that Jhinit was facing a number of criminal cases on charges of extortion and abduction.
Meanwhile, in a statement sent to the media, the UPDF identified Jhimit Chakma as its Guimara upazila organiser and demanded his release.
Angya Marma, the organisation’s Khagrachari district organiser, also alleged that members of the group were being subjected to repression.
Security sources said that during separate operations conducted over the past three days at Ramgarh, Panchhari and Matiranga, law enforcement agencies recovered three AK-47 rifles, a pistol and a large quantity of ammunition.
Four UPDF members were reportedly detained in those operations.
The same sources also claimed that two members of the organisation were killed in separate shooting incidents during the same period.
The UPDF was formed in 1998 under the leadership of Prosit Bikash Khisa in opposition to the 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord, although officially it maintained a position that it was skeptical of the accord’s implementation.
The organisation has long campaigned for full autonomy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
The group has faced allegations over the years of involvement in armed activities, extortion, abduction and violent clashes with rival groups. The UPDF has repeatedly denied such allegations, maintaining that it is engaged in a movement for political rights.
