An armed gang abducted three people from Ramu in Cox's Bazar early yesterday, less than a month after two tourists from the capital and their local guide were kidnapped in Rangamati.

Yesterday's kidnapping happened around 3:30am when the three, along with a patient, were heading towards Baishari of Bandarban from Chittagong Medical College Hospital in an ambulance.

The abductors let the patient and the ambulance driver go, and took the three to a nearby forest, police said. 

The victims are Abu Taiyab, 40, former member of Baishari union under Naikkhangchhari upazila in Bandarban and his relatives Abu Bakkar, 24, of the same area, and Shah Alam, 32, of Satkania in Chittagong.

Taiyab's wife Ayesha Siddika, member of the union parishad, told The Daily Star, "The abductors called me from my husband's phone and demanded Tk 5 lakh ransom."

The kidnappers threatened to kill her husband and the two others if she failed to pay, she said.

Abdul Majid, officer-in-charge of Ramu Police Station in Cox's Bazar, said the criminals intercepted the ambulance on Eidghar-Baishari road at Painnajiri. He said police were trying to rescue the three.

Abduction in the southeastern region is on the rise of late. Including the three yesterday, at least 26 people have been kidnapped in three districts in the region -- Bandarban, Rangamati and Cox's Bazar -- in the last 10 months. 

Twenty of them have been released after their families paid the abductors, according to police and family sources. 

Family members allege Arakan Liberation Party, a separatist group of Myanmar, Mro National Party, a group in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and some armed robbers of Cox's Bazar are behind these abductions.

But police could not track down or arrest anyone yet.

Talking to The Daily Star, officials of Ramu, Naikkhangchhari and Ali Kadam police stations said Mro National Party and some armed robbers were responsible for most abductions.

In many cases, family members pay the ransom for the release of their relatives and do not file any case, said Sirajul Islam, officer-in-charge of Lama Police Station.

"We can act only on the basis of written complaints. We arrested four people in connection with the abduction and killing of an indigenous man in Lama," he said.

On October 3, two tourists from Dhaka -- Abdullah Al Jubayer, 26, and Jaker Hossain Munna, 34 -- and their local guide Mangsai Mro were kidnapped by an armed group at Bilaichhari upazila in Rangamati.

Later, Paching Mro, brother of Mangsai Mro, said Arakan Liberation Party claimed responsibility for the abduction and demanded Tk 50 lakh for their release.

However, a member of joint forces in Bandarban said they were not sure that it was the Arakan Liberation Party.

Members of joint forces have been conducting search operations in the area to rescue the three without success.

Frequent kidnappings in the region have created a sense of panic among locals.

Zakir Hossain Majumder, chairman of Pashikhali union, said several gangs from Cox's Bazar and Chakaria upazila have been abducting people in the area for money for long.

"We are in a constant fear so much so that we think twice before travelling outside the area," he told The Daily Star yesterday.