A Rohingya man was beaten to death allegedly by members of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) at Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhiya upazila of Cox’s Bazar this morning.
The incident took place under a bridge at Kutupalong camp 2 (East), said Additional Deputy Inspector General Md Amir Zafar, commander of Armed Police Battalion-8 in Cox’s Bazar.
Md Ishaq, 48, of A-1 block under Balukhali camp-7 of the upazila, was picked up by the ARSA criminals from his shanty early morning and brought to Kutupalong camp, said the police official.
They gouged out his eyes and beat him until he died, Amir Zafar said.
Police later recovered his body from the spot and launched a drive to arrest the criminals, he said.
After the primary investigation, police learned that ARSA criminals carried out the murder over establishing supremacy in the camps, he added.
The body was sent to Cox’s Bazar General Hospital for autopsy and a filing of a case in this regard is under way, said Sheikh Mohammad Ali, officer-in-charge (OC) of Ukhiya Police Station.
On July 7, five ARSA members were killed in a gunfight with Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) at at Camp 8.
On the evening of the same day, a stabbed body of another ARSA member was found near the camp.
The day before the incident, a Rohingya community leader (sub majhi) believed to be an RSO supporter, was stabbed to death allegedly by ARSA members in a nearby camp.
At least 59 Rohingyas have so far been killed in the Rohingya camp in the last seven months, police and Rohingya leaders said.
Around 1.2 million Rohingyas are living in 33 refugee camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas of Cox’s Bazar. Most of them came here facing brutal military campaigns in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in 2017.