Panic returns in Ghumdhum

Villagers of Ghumdhum area in Bandarban, who returned to their homes on Thursday after spending days at makeshift shelters, have been in constant fear as gunshots kept rocking the neighbourhoods at regular intervals yesterday.

Children playing in their neighbourhood again found an unexploded rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) yesterday, sending a wave of panic in the villages along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border in Naikkhongchhari upazila of Bandarban.

The people were forced to flee earlier last week as mortar shells and bullets frequently crossed the border amid fighting between Myanmar junta forces and an armed group called Arakan Army.

Bullets and explosives from Myanmar killed two people, injured several others, and caused damage to properties on this side of the border since February 4.

Around 11:00am yesterday, the bomb disposal personnel of Bangladesh Army detonated an RPG local children found by a road in Nayapara area the previous day.

Minutes later, 60-70 gunshots were heard from across the border over almost half an hour, said an official of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), wishing anonymity.

Around 2:00pm, a teenage boy named Yasin Arafat found a similar unexploded RPG on a paddy field near the border, said Mahfuz Imtiaz Bhuiyan, in-charge of Ghumdhum police outpost.

"I carried it and handed it over to the BGB members in Ghundhum," he said.

The 17-year-old carried the explosive on his shoulder and handed it over to BGB officials who placed it on the roadside and cordoned off the street, said a BGB official.

"We informed the Tumbru border outpost and they are taking necessary measures," said the official.

AKM Jahangir Aziz, chairman of Ghumdhum Union Parishad, said people of his union were frightened.

"There are risks of major casualties as people with no knowledge about explosives are handling those," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

Meanwhile, the bullet-ridden body of an unidentified man found on Thursday night near the border in the Rahmater beel area of Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar, was not recovered until last night.

The sound of gunshots from Myanmar was heard in the Whykong area of Teknaf yesterday.

Mahfuzul Islam, a resident of the Unchiprang, said he heard 30-35 gunshots on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, BGB yesterday filed a case with Ukhia Police Station against 23 Myanmar nationals who entered Bangladesh with firearms.

Mohammad Mafuzul Islam, superintendent of police in Cox's Bazar, said BGB handed over the accused to the police with 12-15 weapons.

The SP said the 23 people are displaced Rohingyas of Myanmar.

Meanwhile, people living around the Rahamater beel area could not go to their crop fields due to the unrest along the border.

Many fishermen, who run their livelihood by fishing in the Naf river are having a hard time since they could not go to the river because of the unrest.

Niamat Ali, a farmer of the area, said many like him depend on fishing from the Naf river.

"We are almost starving since we have no other option to run our family," he added.