At least three indigenous people were killed and 20 were injured in clashes and attacks over an ant-rape protest amid Section 144 in Guimara of Khagrachhari on Sunday.
According to eyewitnesses, the members of the Bangladesh Army, led by Major Md. Mazhar Hossain Rabbani, and the police attacked the protesters several times since morning.
The army and police also opened fire, targeting the protesters, leaving several injured.
Around 1pm, when the army personnel left the area, the Muslim settlers looted and torched dozens of shops and nearby houses of the indigenous people at Ramesu Bazar of Guimara. Some of the attackers were wearing masks.
However, the details of the casualties are not known. In the evening, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) of Chittagong Range Ahsan Habib Palash confirmed the death of three people to Bangla Tribune.
He said: “We have received information that three people were shot dead in Guimara during the clash. Their bodies are in the morgue of Khagrachhari District Hospital. However, the details of who shot them and how they died are not known. Four more people were injured in the incident. They are undergoing treatment in the hospital.”
When asked about this, Khagrachhari Civil Surgeon Mohammad Saber said: “Three bodies have been brought to Khagrachhari District Hospital. They are young men. The bodies have been kept in the morgue. An autopsy will be conducted on Monday morning.”
Official sources claimed that 11 army personnel, including Major Rabbani, were injured. Nine others, including local journalist Saifur Rahman, also sustained injuries.
Army, Yunus regime are suppressing gang rape of Tripura girl in Khagrachhari
Earlier, the army and Muslim settlers carried out attacks against the Adivasi population when they protested the gang-rape of a Tripura girl in Khagrachhari in June, and three Adivasis were killed in a wave of communal attacks on September 19 last year. The following day, the violence spread to Rangamati, where a teenager was hacked to death on the street by some Bangali settlers.
Police have not submitted investigation reports on any of these incidents.
How it started
On September 23, an Adivasi girl was raped on her way back from a private school at 9pm. Relatives rescued her unconscious from a field around 11pm that day.
No medical examination has been conducted till Sunday.
A blockade program began early Saturday morning under the banner of โJumma-Chhatra Janataโ in protest of the rape. Traffic on the Chittagong-Khagrachhari, Khagrachhari-Rangamati and Khagrachhari-Sajek roads was closed due to the program.
On Saturday morning, the blockaders protested by burning tyres and throwing tree trunks on the roads in different parts of the district. During the protest, the army personnel resisted the demonstrators, while Muslim settlers also launched attacks on them.
The district administration later imposed Section 144 in the wake of the incident.
Army blames UPDF
The Bangladesh Army issued a statement on the violence in Khagrachhari and Guimara on Sunday night.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that on September 19, 2024, the main and affiliated organisations of the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) tried to create communal instability in Dighinala and Rangamati, focusing on the killing of motorcyclist Mamun in Khagrachhari. As a result, three people were killed and several locals were injured.
This year, as part of the one-year anniversary of the September 19 incident last year, the UPDF and its affiliated organisations held protest marches in different places in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and tried to repeat similar incidents.
A suspect, Shayan Shil, was arrested on September 24 with the help of the army and remanded in police custody. Legal proceedings are currently underway to determine the truth of the incident.
Despite the arrest of Shayan Shil, Ukhyanu Marma, the leader of UPDF’s affiliate PCP, called for a protest march and a protest human chain in Khagrachhari on September 24 under the banner of โJumma Chhatra Jantar.โ
In continuation of this, a half-day strike was observed in Khagrachhari on September 25 at the call of UPDF. At the same time, bloggers residing in the country and abroad and some responsible persons in the hilly region, made various propaganda and provocative statements targeting Bengalis online.
On September 26, under the leadership of UPDF activist Ukhyanu Marma and the influence of the provocative campaign by some responsible persons in the hilly district, including local and expatriate bloggers, on social media, tension spread throughout Khagrachhari. During the siege, at one point, the unruly locals, instigated by the UPDF, pelted bricks and stones at the patrolling army. As a result, three army personnel were injured.
Considering the overall situation and the issue of provocation, the army handled the situation with great patience, restraint and humanity and refrained from using force.
On September 27, the UPDF and its affiliated organisations once again tried to create riots and disturbances and committed acts of sabotage, including shooting at ordinary people, including Bengalis at various places, vandalising, attacking ambulances and blocking roads, thereby severely deteriorating the law and order in the entire Khagrachhari municipality area.
By noon that day, the overall issue took the form of a communal riot between the hilly Bengalis. Considering the situation, the district administration imposed Section 144 in the Khagrachhari Sadar and Guimara areas. In such a situation, the army, BGB and law enforcement agencies worked tirelessly throughout the night with extreme patience to bring the situation under control, and it was possible to prevent an inevitable communal riot.
After the failed attempt to create communal riots in the Khagrachhari municipality area, the UPDF and its affiliated organisations completely blocked the Guimara-Khagrachhari road in the Ramesu Bazar area of โโGuimara from the morning of 28 September, violating Section 144 and inciting the general public.
At 10:30am, UPDF workers and terrorists engaged in a chase and counter-chase with the Bengali population of the area. When the army tried to control the situation at this stage, they attacked the army in a coordinated manner with indigenous weapons, bricks, stones, slingshots and sticks. In this, 10 members of the army, including 3 officers, were injured.
At the same time, they vandalised BGB vehicles in the Ramgarh area and injured BGB members. During the clash, at approximately 11:30 am, members of the UPDF (Main) armed group from a high hill located west of Ramesu Bazar fired approximately 100 to 150 rounds of automatic weapons 4 to 5 times at the clashing Adivasis, Bengalis and army personnel busy controlling the situation. In this, many of the locals involved in the clash at the spot were shot.
In this situation, an army patrol team quickly went to that area to bring the situation under control. The armed group quickly left the area due to the army’s action.
At the same time, the external miscreants of the UPDF (Main) set fire to Ramesu Bazar and houses and engaged in chase and counter-chase with the Bengalis. At that time, additional troops were deployed in Ramesu Bazar and Guimara areas to control the situation, and the situation came under control around 4:30pm.
The ISPR further said that after observing the events of the past few days, it is clear that the UPDF and its affiliated organisations are forcing women and school-going children of the area to participate in their subversive activities in various ways in a well-planned manner to destabilise the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
At the same time, efforts are continuing to bring foreign terrorists to different areas of the Hill Tracts along with various indigenous weapons to organise communal riots in the Hill Tracts. This afternoon, a large number of local weapons transported by the UPDF terrorist organisation were seized from a passenger bus at a check post set up by the Kaptai Battalion of the BGB.
According to the ISPR, the issue of destabilising the CHT and organising communal riots without taking recourse to law by capitalising on various incidents in Khagrachhari and Guimara areas from September 19 to 28, 2025, appears to be part of a larger conspiracy.
Various evidence in this regard is preserved with the law enforcement agencies. Considering the overall situation of the past few days, the Bangladesh Army is calling on the leaders of political parties of all ethnic groups in the Hill Tracts and the public to behave with restraint. All law enforcement agencies, including the Army, are specifically requested to cooperate in restoring stability in the Hill Tracts. Despite all kinds of propaganda, false propaganda, and provocative activities, the Army is firmly determined to protect the integrity of this integral part of Bangladesh. The Army is committed to taking any kind of action to ensure the security of all ethnic groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and to protect the sovereignty of the country.
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