Monirul Alam, back from Kutukchhari
The United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF) yesterday came up with an allegation against a pro-peace accord body of killing its 87 members in the last four years.
The anti-peace accord outfit at a press conference also alleged that armed activists of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS) damaged property of 15 UPDF men, torched and ransacked more than 100 houses and extorted Tk 13 lakh in the same period.
Shachib Chakma, convenor of UPDF Rangamati district unit, said, "No peace exists in the CHT (Chittagong Hill Tracts) as the PCJSS intensified crime and extortion."
Journalists attending the press conference in a forest at Kutukchhari, 25km off Rangamati district headquarters, were intercepted by the army on close patrol and the UPDF leaders were forced to change the venue several times.
The UPDF leaders handed the newsmen a written statement describing how the PCJSS that signed the 1997 peace accord with the government has tortured its rivals since 1999.
The statement adds: Six UPDF men were abducted by the PCJSS men and released on ransom, and 42 people left home being tortured and took shelter in the Ratnangkur Buddhist Temple in Naniarchar.
The UPDF leaders could not read out the written statement nor could any journalist ask any question at the press conference as the army men were close by.
The venue was then shifted to the nearby road to the temporary district office of the UPDF to Kutukchhari Union Parishad Office.
The journalists left the area because of constant interception and faced a chase by the army up to Manikchhori on the outskirts of Rangamati town.
The journalists contacted the commander of Rangamati region who assured them of looking into the matter.
AKM Maksud Ahmed, president of Rangamati Press Club, and Mohammed Ali, its general secretary, protested the role of the army.
Asked about the UPDF allegation, Chandra Shekhar Chakma, PCJSS secretary general, denied it. He told The Daily Star that some other supporters of the peace accord might have engaged in those activities to save themselves from the UPDF.
"We have surrendered all our firearms to the government, signing the accord.
None of our activists is involved in it," he said.