Abducted C&F agent rescued, 6 arrested

Detectives yesterday rescued a clearing and forwarding agent of Benapole land port, who was abducted on Monday, and arrested six abductors in Mugda area of the capital.

C&F agent Habibur Rahman Habi, also a vice president of Jubo Dal, Sharsha upazila unit was picked up in Kamalapur area after he arrived in the capital on business purposes.

Loading and unloading of goods at Benapole land port that had been halted, due to a strike enforced by five organisations centring Habibur's abduction, resumed yesterday following the rescue, said Officer-in-Charge of Benapole Port Police Station Apurba Hassan.  

Briefing reporters at the media centre of Dhaka Metropolitan police (DMP), Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam of the Detective Branch of Police said on information, a team of detectives raided a residence at Maniknagar in Mugda, rescued an injured Habibur, and made the arrests.

The gang abducted and tortured Habibur for a ransom of Tk 60 lakh, he said.

The arrestees are: Abdul Mannan Palash, 32, also an arms trader, GM Jubayer Ahmed, 22, Mojibur Rahman, 44, Mahbubur Rahman Jisan, 17, Jannatul Ferdous Josna, 32, and Bristy Akter 17. 

Habibur, also a former chairman of Putkhali Union Parishad, was produced at the media centre with his right hand bandaged, and torture marks on different parts of his body.

Narrating the incident, he said, “On Monday, Palash, a former business partner of my son-in-law, told me over the phone that he managed an importer and asked me to come to Kamalapur.”

Habibur said when he went to meet Palash, he was abducted by Palash and associates on gunpoint.

"They chained my hands and legs, gagged me and tortured me in a room for Tk 60 lakh,” he said, adding that Palash threatened to kill him if the ransom was not paid.