Six Rohingya workers abducted from a rubber plantation in the Alikhyang area of Baishari Union in Naikhongchhari upazila of Bandarban have been freed three days after their kidnapping. 

They returned from the Goyalmara area of neighboring Lama upazila on Monday morning. However, local sources and police have given differing accounts of how they secured their release.

Several local sources claimed the abductors demanded a ransom of Tk 200,000 for the workers' release. According to the sources, the men were freed after the money was paid following negotiations. No one directly involved in the process agreed to speak publicly.

Police, however, said they intensified intelligence efforts and conducted raids in several suspected locations immediately after the abduction. They claimed the kidnappers were forced to release the workers under pressure from the operation.

The six workers were abducted at gunpoint late Friday night from staff quarters at a rubber plantation in Alikhyang by a group of armed men. All six are residents of the Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar. 

They had traveled to the plantation to clear jungle as part of their work.

Rubber plantation owner Kawshar said the workers were abducted the night after they began work. While relieved by their safe return, he stressed the need for stronger security measures to protect workers in the border region.

Naikhongchhari Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mozammel Haque said multiple police teams had carried out operations following the abduction and that efforts to identify and arrest those responsible were continuing. 

He added that police would register a case and take legal action if a written complaint is filed.

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