Dhaka, Sep 11 (PTI) Bangladesh police have detained 63 foreigners, mostly from Laos, Pakistan and China, on charges of involvement in online fraud in the southeastern port city of Chattogram, officials said on Friday.
“Acting on secret information, a joint team of our detectives, counter-terrorism unit and RAB (Rapid Action Battalion) conducted a predawn raid at an eight-storey building in Chattogram and detained them on charges of online scamming,” a police spokesperson said.
The detainees included 35 nationals of Laos, 21 Pakistanis, five Chinese, one Nepali and one Vietnamese national while the identification of the remaining detainees was still underway, the spokesperson said.
Among the 63 arrested individuals, there were 41 men, 21 women and
a child.
Khulshi police station chief Mohammad Abdur Rahim said police seized equipment allegedly used for fraudulent activities, along with 131 mobile phones, 56 laptops, US dollars and other foreign currencies.
Data stored on the seized electronic devices were being examined to determine the nature of the activities being conducted from the building, he said.
Port city police spokesman Aminur Rashid said the detainees were being questioned and legal documents related to their stay in Bangladesh were also being scrutinised.
The development came more than a week after police in the southeastern beach town of Cox’s Bazar detained five Chinese and one Taiwanese national in a similar raid at a luxury hotel.
Police had seized nearly 2,000 iPhones and dozens of laptops allegedly used to manage hundreds of fake online identities in that operation.
Since May, police have arrested dozens of foreigners, including 19 Chinese nationals, in similar raids in Dhaka, Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar on charges of involvement in online fraud, according to officials. PTI AR FHK FHK
