Nearly 800 fruit-bearing papaya trees in a privately owned orchard on the outskirts of Rangamati town were cut after an alleged demand for Tk10 lakh in extortion money was not met, according to a report published on August 2. The central committee of the Parbatya Chattogram Nagorik Parishad, or PCNP, expressed deep concern over the incident.

In a press release issued to the media on Saturday, PCNP central chairman Abdul Hamid Rana and general secretary Solaiman called for stern action against those involved, described in the release as indigenous terrorists. The organization said extortion, abduction, assault over extortion demands and other terrorist activities have increased alarmingly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in recent times.

PCNP urged the administration to take strict legal action against all active terrorist and extortion groups in the region and ensure the safety of ordinary people, their lives, property and assets. It said that if effective measures are not taken promptly to stop such activities, the organization would be compelled to announce tougher programmes with affected residents of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.