Dhaka [Bangladesh], September 9 : Authorities in the southern resort town of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, are investigating reports that around 300 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals may have been involved in suspicious scam-related activities.
According to Bangladeshi local media, police in the coastal resort town of Cox’s Bazar have arrested five Chinese nationals and one from Taiwan over alleged scam-related activities.
According to Prothom Alo, a leading Bangladeshi daily, police raided the Himchhari Marina Beach Villa Resort in Cox’s Bazar on Thursday night. During the operation, police seized 50 monitors, 40 CPUs, and1,938 iPhones. Several individuals were arrested in the raid, while others fled.
In Bangladesh, a case has been filed under the Cyber Security Act against several Chinese and Taiwanese nationals. On Friday, a court ordered their imprisonment. The police say that these individuals entered Bangladesh at different times since March 1. Meanwhile, staff from the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka visited the Cox’s Bazar area after the arrest of the suspected Chinese nationals.
Bangladeshi local media raised questions after the incident.
"The operation raises a question that extends beyond Cox's Bazar: is Bangladesh beginning to develop the kind of criminal ecosystem that has already turned parts of South and Southeast Asia into major centres of transnational fraud?", the daily Star reported.
"There is not yet enough evidence to suggest that Bangladesh has become a regional scam hub on the scale of Cambodia or Myanmar. But the Cox's Bazar case could be an early indication of a problem that, once established, can prove considerably harder to contain", the Daily Star report added.