Two suspected members of a human trafficking ring have been arrested in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhiya over the alleged abduction of a 14-year-old boy who was lured with a job offer and targeted for trafficking to Malaysia.

SRB-15 arrested Ashek, 19, and Imran Uddin, 20, during a raid in the Nurar Deil area of Jaliapalong Union on Sunday afternoon. Both are residents of Inani in Ukhiya.

According to SRB-15, Md Maimun Uddin, 14, of Ukhiya’s Monkhali area, left home on Feb. 27 to attend Friday prayers.

Members of a trafficking ring allegedly approached him with the promise of a job, abducted him and took him to an undisclosed location.

The group later contacted Maimun’s family and demanded ransom, SRB-15 said. They allegedly threatened to kill the teenager if the money was not paid and warned that he would be thrown into the sea if the family alerted the authorities.

A team from SRB-15’s Whykong camp traced the suspected kidnappers using intelligence and information technology before raiding Nurar Deil at around 3.30 p.m. Sunday.

SRB-15 said the two suspects admitted during preliminary questioning that they had been involved in abducting Maimun with the intention of trafficking him to Malaysia and demanding ransom from his family.

Legal proceedings against the two are underway, while operations are continuing to identify and arrest other suspected members of the trafficking network, SRB-15 said.