<i>From Afghanistan with harrowing memories</i>

Imam Uddin, held hostage by Afghan Mujahideen for seven months, breaks down in tears while telling the harrowing tales of his captivity, on his return to home in Chittagong on Sunday.Photo: STAR

"At first I could not believe the news of my father's return. I had heard that people abducted by Afghan mujhahideen never come back," said 12-year-old Abid, son of Imam Uddin, who returned home after over seven months of ordeal under captivity in the hands of abductors in Afghanistan on Sunday.
Abid, his elder sister Tanjina, Imam Uddin's wife Jahanara Begum, mother-in-law and other family members broke into tears to see him when he reached home at Oxygen in Chittagong.
“Returning home became a remote possibility for me. Often the fear of death gripped me. They have no humanity. They are engaged in harmful activities in the name of Islam,” Imam Uddin said, describing his harrowing tales of captivity.
Imam, who first went to Afghanistan in 2005 as an operator at Korean construction company Samwhan Corporation, said their road construction work in a remote district of Majar-i-Sharif was almost complete when woe befell them.
"On 17 December in 2010, we were resting at our camp in the evening. At about 8:00pm around 25 militants armed with riffles, machine guns and other heavy arms attacked the camp," Imam said.
"The militants, locally called mujahideen, abducted seven of us. They killed one of our colleagues as he was late in getting up from bed. Tying our hands, the militants made us walk the whole night in the remote rocky area.
The next morning, two of the abductees, somehow managed to get free and later reached their camp with the help of some villages.
The five other Bangladeshis were again blindfolded and taken onto a jeep and had a five-hour journey. At night they were made to walk for long and taken to a stony remote village where they were confined to a small mud house with a door and no window.
"We were given only some dry bread and dirty water. After 52 days we were sent to another house. After 23 days, we were again sent to the previous house. Days became more tormenting as we had to defecate and urinate inside the room," said Imam.
"The abductors' behaviour turned worse and often it seemed that I would never see my wife, sons and daughters.
“We could not take bath for months. We had no alternative cloths. At one stage we were all suffering from skin diseases. I also suffered from serious stomach ache. The house was smelly as it was not cleaned.
Later, the five Bangladeshi abductees were kept confined to a cave of stony hill where hundreds of sheep and goats took rest, making the area filthy.
"Two days before our release we were taken to the house of a Mujahid commander. He arranged our stay with some asses at a cattle house.
“When they gave us a chance to take bath and showed a bit different behaviour after long seventh months, fear of death overtook us.
"However, after some painful journey on foot, by a jeep, and a truck we entered Mazar-i-Sharif city on August 2 and found colleagues and bosses waiting for us. Then we could realise that we had been freed,” Imam said.
Imam's wife Jahanara Begum told, “I along with my sons and daughters passed a long agonising period waiting for my husband's return. I will never allow him to go to a country like Afghanistan.”