JSS armed group raids village, beats one

On 25 August a government-backed JSS armed group swooped on a village and beat up an innocent villager in Kudukchari under Rangamati district.

About eight JSS men armed with sophisticated weapons raided the village of Bogachari and beat up Kalpa Ranjan Chakma. They also demanded Taka 10,000 (approx. $170) as toll from Jogel Chakma, the village head of Deno Bogachari and gave him one day to pay the money.

It is not known whether the money was paid.

The Jana Samhati Samiti (JSS) has changed role after the surrender in 1998 and become completely dependent on the Dhaka government for its political survival. For fear of losing their jobs in the Regional Council, the JSS leaders have now bottled up their demand of full implementation of the CHT accord.

On the other hand, its armed members are engaged in indiscriminate killing, abduction and extortion in the CHT.

UPDF has been calling for a united movement against the government, but the JSS refuses to halt attacks and sit down for talks with UPDF.

Prepared by Human Rights Monitoring Cell, United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) on 27 August 2005.