Telecom Services at Risk in the Hills: Tower Repair Triggers Abduction in Khagrachari
Two technicians working for a private mobile network operator were reportedly abducted at gunpoint in the Manikchhari upazila of Khagrachari district. The abductees have been identified as Md. Ismail Hossain (35) and Abre Marma (25). Initial reports suggest that both individuals are technicians for Edotco, a network partner of mobile operator Robi.
According to sources, the two technicians had gone to repair a Robi mobile tower in Moyurkhil Beel, located beside the Chattogram-Khagrachari highway under Dhormoghôr union, on Saturday afternoon. The tower had been inactive for the past eight months due to repeated acts of vandalism and looting by unknown miscreants. While carrying out the repair work, several armed men suddenly appeared at the scene, forced the technicians off the tower, and abducted them on motorcycles to an unknown location.
While local residents have confirmed the incident, no official statement has been made by district authorities. Manikchhari Police Station Officer-in-Charge Sheikh Mahmudul Hasan Rubel stated, “We have heard about the abduction of two technicians. However, no missing persons report or formal complaint has been filed.”
Several locals, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that all businesses in the hill regions are compelled to pay substantial annual levies to armed groups. They speculated that the incident might have stemmed from a possible disagreement between Robi and one such group.
On January 22 earlier this year, a series of coordinated attacks were carried out on mobile phone towers in the upazilas of Dighinala, Manikchhari, and Matiranga. Eight towers were vandalized and set on fire by unidentified individuals. As a result, mobile users in those areas have been deprived of network services for over three months. To date, neither the police nor the local administration have been able to identify the perpetrators of those attacks.
With the fate of the two abducted technicians still unclear, concerns continue to mount over the future operations of mobile towers in the hill district, leaving residents in a state of communication uncertainty.
