The US federal sources confirmed the incident to CNN. Deputy Commissioner (North) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Obaidul Haque said he knows about such an incident and an abduction case filed in that connection but he does not know whether the 'abducted person' was deported to the US.

When The Daily Star asked the DC whether intelligence officers had picked up the person he said he does not know about it, the case is under investigation and only after the investigation he will be able to comment on it.

Meanwhile, a father is frantically searching for his US-born son who went missing from Baridhara DOHS in the capital on April 17.

Sardar Md Sharif, an industrialist, said his son Ehsanul Islam Sadequee Shifa, 21, came to visit him on August 20 last year from the USA and since then he had been staying with him.

"I want to know the whereabouts of my son. I don't know whether he is alive or intelligence officials have tortured him inhumanely to death," Sharif burst into tears at a news conference in the National Press Club.

He demanded the prime minister's intervention and cooperation in releasing his son.

A garments exporter by profession, Sharif said eight to ten armed plainclothesmen of different government intelligence agencies 'abducted' Ehsanul on April 17 while he and his wife reached Kalachandpur Bridge Police Post at Baridhara on their way back home from shopping. Policemen at the check post cooperated with the 'abductors' as they identified themselves as intelligence officials.

They identified themselves as personnel of Criminal Investigation Department, Detective Branch, Special Branch and Rab as Ehsanul's wife wanted to know their identity, Sharif said.

He said he informed the DC (North) of DMP of the matter, who himself along with some other top police officials visited the spot. When they asked the policemen on duty at the check post about the incident, they said they had cooperated with the 'abductors' because they identified themselves as government intelligence officials.

Sharif said he also filed a case with Cantonment Police Station on April 17.

Online service of CNN reports that on Monday, Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, was arrested in Dhaka, according to his sisters. He was handed over to FBI and put on a plane to New York on Thursday, the US federal sources said.

He is expected to face charges in the eastern district of New York, the report said.

CNN also reports that Sadequee's sisters said they were shocked by the news and that their brother has no ties to terrorism. His sister, Sharmin Sadequee, said her brother works for an Atlanta-based non-profit group, Raksha.

The organisation's web site states that Raksha, founded in 1995, "addresses social issues within our South Asian community such as family violence and divorce, as well as issues concerning children, senior citizens and new immigrants."

"We are very shocked and startled and hurt," said Sharmin Sadequee, who lives in Michigan. "We still don't know why he was taken by the Bangladeshi government and the FBI," she said, according to the report.

Sharif said his son got married to Happy Shahnaj, daughter of his (Sharif's) elder brother SM Rahmatullah on March 3.

Ehsanul had been staying in the country since August 20 with permission from the home ministry as it is taking some time for his newly wedded wife's emigration to the US. He had been studying in North South University by transferring his course credits from the US.

"Till today I do not know where and how is my son. He has not yet been shown arrested with any specific charge or not produced before any top police official, or police station or to any court," Sharif lamented.

He said his son is an asthma patient and he is also suffering from jaundice. He has to use inhalers and receive other breathing treatments regularly.

He also said he informed the ambassador and the consul of the US Embassy in Dhaka, and the US Secretary of State in Washington DC about the matter.

"Knowing about Ehsanul's illness the US Embassy in Dhaka asked me to send the medicine and inhaler to them and I have given those to them on Thursday," he said. He also said after detailed discussion over the issue, the US Embassy asked him to remain calm and assured him of all efforts to rescue his son.

A fact sheet that our New York correspondent Naeem Mohaiemen received from Ehsanul's sister Sharmin Sadequee via e-mail said Ehsanul was first interrogated by FBI at JFK airport in August 2005. His brother, also a US citizen, was investigated by FBI in September 2005.

Canadian authorities also visited Ehsanul's aunt in Canada to ask questions about him -- including his attendance at an Islamic school in Canada. In December, four immigration agents visited their house in Atlanta, investigating his mother's immigration status.

Atlanta FBI picked up a Pakistani-American man who is a friend of Ehsanul last August. "At that time we presume the US authorities sent information about the case to Bangladesh authorities," Sharmin's e-mail read.

Asked about the incidents of FBI interrogations of their family members in the USA, Ehsan's father said no such incident took place in the US.

Ehsanul's wife Happy Shahnaj and father-in-law SM Rahmatullah were present at the news conference.