'Hanif picked up on Feb 27'

Hanif Mridha who, according to Rab, died in its custody hours after being detained near Friday's suicide blast spot at the capital's Ashkona, was actually picked up by a group of people claiming to be detectives in Narayanganj's Siddhirganj late last month, his family has alleged.

His friend Sohel Hossain Montu, who was accompanying him at that time, was also picked up, and he still remained missing, Hanif's family and friends claimed yesterday.

Hanif's brother Halim Mridha said he filed a general diary with Siddhirganj Police Station on March 4, stating that the two were held in Siddhirganj on February 27.

Asked, Mohammad Rasel, a sub-inspector at the police station, confirmed the GD filing but declined to comment further on the matter. “The investigation is on … I cannot say more,” he said.

Hanif, who is from Barguna's Amragasia village, had been living with his family in the capital's Rayerbazar area for around eight months.

He was involved in transport business in the capital, and owned three Turag Paribahan buses and a car.

Halim yesterday said they learnt from media reports that a person named Hanif died in Rab custody. Later, they went to the Bimanbandar Police Station and confirmed that the deceased was indeed his brother Hanif.

Talking to this correspondent on Saturday, Mufti Mahmud Khan, director of Rab's Legal and Media Wing, said they detained Hanif Friday afternoon near Rab's Ashkona barrack where a suicide bomber blew himself up on Friday.

At about 4:30pm, some Rab members saw Hanif trying to run away from a restaurant in the area. They detained him and took him to a Rab camp where he complained of chest pain, said the Rab official.

“He was taken to Kurmitola General Hospital where doctors declared him dead around 5:45pm,” he added.

Yesterday, Hanif's wife Kulsum Begum told reporters at her Rayerbazar house that Hanif and his friend Sohel, a furniture trader, went to Barisal on February 24 to attend a religious programme of Charmonai Pir.

On February 27, they boarded a launch to return to Narayanganj, and got down at a terminal near Kanchpur Bridge, she said.

“Our driver Jewel took our private car to Kanchpur Bridge to pick Hanif.”

After Jewel reached there, he saw a group of seven to eight people whisk Hanif and Sohel away by a HiAce microbus, Kulsum said quoting the driver.

Several other members of the group posing as detectives then forcibly boarded the private car. They pointed firearms at Jewel and asked him to keep driving. As the car reached Purbachal area, they forced Jewel to get down and then drove off, she said.

Kulsum further said that later at night, a group of men came to their house by a HiAce microbus. They identified themselves as law enforcers and took away Hanif's motorbike.

Halim said that more than two weeks after Hanif was picked up, several men in plain clothes and one in Rab uniform brought his brother to the house by a white HiAce microbus on March 15. The man in Rab uniform was wearing a badge that read “Iqbal”.

They forced Hanif to sign two cheques for Tk 6.70 lakh, and then took him away, he alleged.

Some of Hanif's neighbours told this correspondent that they saw some people, who identified themselves as law enforcers, bring Hanif to his house on March 15, and then take him away.

Contacted, Mufti Mahmud said, “We have heard about it. But one needs to keep in mind that people were abducted by gangs of criminals posing as DB police and Rab on various occasions. We have arrested members of such gangs at different times.”

In reply to a query, he said they were investigating the claim that one of the group members was wearing a Rab uniform with a badge inscribed with the name “Iqbal”. 

Mohammad Shahidullah, officer-in-charge of Amtoli Police Station in Barguna, said he visited Hanif's village home yesterday after police high-ups enquired him about Hanif. 

He said Hanif started living in the capital several years back and used to visit his village home occasionally.

The police station didn't get any complaints against Hanif in the past, added the officer.

IDENTITY OF SUICIDE ATTACKER, BIKER

Law enforcers were yet to identify Friday's suicide attacker at Ashkona and the biker shot dead by Rab men on Saturday after he defied a signal to stop at a checkpoint in the capital's Khilgaon.

Rab official Mufti Mahmud said they were still trying to know the identity of both the persons.

The woman, who had earlier claimed that the suicide attacker was her son, yesterday said her son returned home, he added.

Police said the job of probing the suicide attack case was transferred to Rab from them. The case was filed with Bimanbandar Police Station against seven to eight unidentified people.

Shahadat Hossain, a sub-inspector at Khilgaon Police Station, said Rab filed a case against two unnamed persons over Saturday's shooting of the biker.