Cox’s Bazaar: Bangladesh authorities took a five-day remand from Cox's Bazaar court on Monday to interrogate eight Burmese citizens arrested by the Bangladesh coast guard on suspicion of espionage, said a police official from Teknaf.
This is the first time a number of Burmese citizens have been arrested in Bangladesh in an alleged spy case, even though many traders and businessmen come to Bangladesh illegally every day to sell smuggled goods such as rice, cattle, timber, and fish.
"They were sent to jail in Cox's Bazaar from Teknaf on Sunday. The next day police officials took five days remand from the court to interrogate them. An eight-member team of senior officials have been interrogating them in Cox's Bazaar," officials said.
The Burmese nationals from Manaung Island in Maungdaw Township were arrested by Bangladesh forces at Sahaporirdip Island in the mouth of the Naff River on 12 February after they came to Bangladesh to sell cattle.
"We discovered nine documents related to the Bangladesh military on them during the arrest. Among the nine documents are nine pictures, one important letter, and a mobile telephone. We suspected they were related to the Burmese army," the official said.
Seven of the arrested were identified as Ko Aung Htay, Ko Min Soe, Ko Soe Naing, Ko Nyi Htay, Ko Soe Maung, U Maung Soe Yin, Ko Maung Win, while the identity of the eighth man was unknown.
Even if the authorities find they are not guilty of espionage, they will still be charged under immigration law for coming to Bangladesh without passports, the police official added.
Relations between the two neighbours have improved recently after representative delegations have been sent for meetings to either country. The border situation was tense in November of 2008 after Bangladesh and Burma sent warships to a disputed stretch of the Bay of Bengal believed to contain large oil and gas reserves.
The territorial sea waters between the two nations have not been demarcated and both claim the stretch of the Bay of Bengal as their own.
