Bangladesh arrests Kuki Chin militant: ‘He was found hiding in locker’

Bangladeshi security forces arrested a senior commander of a tribal militant group believed to have links to Islamist terror groups during a raid on his residence and found him hiding in a locker.

Cheosim Bom was arrested on Sunday, days after his Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) group robbed a state-owned bank and kidnapped a bank manager last week. Three days later, after mediation, the manager was released.

He was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the counter-terrorism wing of the Bangladesh Police.

A regional RAB official said Cheosim Bom, believed to be the main organizer and coordinator of the insurgent group, was “found hiding in a locked store during a raid on his residence on the outskirts of Bandarban town.” In the locker”.

The official said the captured commander was a close aide to fugitive National Front chief Nathan Bom.

The development comes as the Bangladesh Army continues its crackdown on the National Front in Bandarban in an effort to eliminate the insurgent group.

In 2023, the KNF killed three soldiers in Bandarban.

The KNF’s goal is to establish an independent, autonomous state for the Christian-majority Bom community.