Officials sent to learn more about Taiwanese held in Bangladesh

Taipei, Dec. 24 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent officials to look into the arrest of Taiwanese nationals in Bangladesh accused of violating the southeast Asian country’s telecommunications regulations by using Internet telephony equipment, the ministry said Tuesday.

“Earlier today, our representative office in India sent officials to Bangladesh to look deeper into the case and provide necessary assistance to the Taiwanese nationals held there,” ministry spokeswoman Anna Kao said in Taipei.

Noting that Taiwan does not have a representative office in Bangladesh, Kao said the India office will keep in contact with Bangladeshi authorities to gain information on the latest developments.

The Bangladesh government has not yet released specifics or the names of the arrested individuals, Kao added.

Reports Monday said that law enforcement in Bangladesh arrested 32 Taiwanese nationals, five Chinese nationals, and two Bangladeshis following a raid of an illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) operation that allowed cheap international phone calls.

A spokesman for Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion told AFP that the suspects, mostly in their twenties and thirties, did not have work permits or licenses to operate Internet telecom equipment.