Ctg BNP leader goes missing

Deep sorrow engulfs the wife and two children of Ziaur Rahman Zia (inset), publicity secretary of Pathantuli unit BNP of Chittagong city, who went missing around 11:00pm on Friday. The tear-jerking moment was captured at Zia's house yesterday. Photo: STAR

A BNP leader in the port city went missing on Friday night with his family and police coming up with conflicting reports on his whereabouts.
Md Ziaur Rahman Zia, 35, publicity secretary of Pathantuli ward unit of BNP, went out of his residence at Daummya Pukurpar area under Double Mooring Police Station at about 11:00pm on Friday, and is missing since then, members of his family said.
But police said Zia, who is also involved in transport business, went to Dhaka by bus yesterday morning, and they are trying to trace him "through mobile phone tracking."
His wife Ranu Akter told this correspondent yesterday afternoon that he went out of their residence around 11.00pm just for a walk but did not come back. He had no rivalry with anyone in politics and also in business, she mentioned.
“His cell phones were found switched off when I called him around 11:40pm. We are still waiting for him," Ranu said in a choked voice.
Zia's elder brother Mohammad Ilias said they looked for him in their relatives' houses and hospitals but did not find him. Then they filed a general diary (GD) with Double Mooring Police Station.
BNP Pathantuli ward unit General Secretary SM Jamal Uddin Jashim said Zia had no rival in politics since there is no feud in the unit.
Contacted, Assistant Commissioner (AC) Arefin Jewel of Double Mooring zone of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP), said there is no case against Zia.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Double Mooring Police Station Mohiuddin Selim told this correspondent that they have come to know Zia bought a ticket for Dhaka from the counter of Bagdad Poribahan in Goribullah Shah Mazar area on Friday night and went to Dhaka.
“We contacted a person named Suman, who sat beside Zia on the bus, and Suman's description of Zia'a appearance match with the information we have,” said the OC.
Zia talked to several persons over mobile phone after reaching Dhaka in the morning (yesterday), he added.
Sources in the CMP said Zia talked to a woman over cell phone in Dhaka.
Chittagong city BNP President Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, who was in Dhaka, expressed deep concern over Zia's "missing".
He urged the law enforcement agencies to take prompt steps to trace Zia.