By IANS
Dhaka : Myanmar militants holding a Danish agency official in captivity since June 25 in forests managed to foil a rescue mission by Bangladesh security forces and escaped after an hour-long exchange of fire.
Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel closed in on the kidnappers in Thanchi forests in Chittagong Hill Tracts Friday. They nabbed Mong Mong Chho, one of the kidnappers, but missed rescuing Hussain Shahid Suman, programme officer with the Danish International Development Agency (Danida).
Authorities said the operation would continue. Even the locals had joined the rescue attempts, The Daily Star newspaper Saturday quoted official sources as saying.
Groups of fugitives from Myanmar have been operating from Bangladeshi soil.
The Peoples' Party of Arakan, a militant Myanmar group, has claimed responsibility for Suman's abduction.
Suman was kidnapped along with his driver in a village near Thanchi, some 400 km southeast of Dhaka. The motive was unknown.
The kidnappers released the driver three days later at a remote forest near Thanchi township. Danida and Danish embassy officials are camping at Bandarban.