Published by Dhaka Tribune: 17 Feb 2024, 06:57 PM Update: 17 Feb 2024, 08:16 PM

A boat with five people on board, including a woman with bullet wounds,arrived at the jetty of the ShapureeDwip in Teknaf from Myanmar on Saturday.

They reached the jetty around 4pm. The boatmen were also presentthere. 

Abdus Salam, UP member of ward no 9 of ShapureeDwip in Teknaf, said: “Afterreceiving the information, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) went there tocheck. We have heard that they have come here for treatment.” 

Local grocer Md Selim said: “There are a total of five people in the boat.”

Meanwhile, fear gripped the residents of ShapureeDwip in Teknaf asintermittent explosions were heard due to the clashes and firing between theArakan Army and the armed forces in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

BGB and Coast Guard members are strictly patrolling the Naf River area toprevent any more infiltration from the other side of the border.

On Saturday, the sound of mortar shell explosions resulted in the tremblingof houses on the Bangladesh side, inducing panic among the residents.

Locals gathered on the border road after hearing the sound of the explosioncoming from the other side of the border.

Maulana Ashfak, khatib of DarushShari'ah Al-Islamiyah Boro Madrasa on thebanks of the Naf River on the border, said: "I heard the sound of mortarshells on my way home after finishing Fajr prayer. The boys of the madrasa wokeup from sleep around 3am on Friday with the sound of the heavy explosion.”

“We are living in fear. Because the madrasa building trembles with the soundof explosions,” he added.

UP member Abdus Salam said: “We can hear the sounds of heavy explosions fromthe other side of the Naf River since morning. The fishermen told us that waris happening in Myanmar in Maungdaw, Phadongcha, Norbonia, Nurullahpara andHassuratas.”

Teknaf-2 BGB Commander Lt Col Mohiuddin Ahmed said: “I have received news ofheavy firing inside Myanmar in the morning. However, we have increasedpatrolling along the border.”

ShapureeDwip jetty In-Charge Md Siddique said: “Gunshots are heard a littleless than in the last two days. For the past two days, the border areas wereshaking with the sound of mortar shells. I heard loud noises during duty andpanicked. Sometimes it seems that bullets or mortar shells are landing hereright now.

Meanwhile, the residents of Hoikung, Hnila and Saint Martin’s Island ofTeknaf said that although they have heard heavy gunshots, they have not heardany sound of gunshots since Saturday morning.