No detainees in Dhaka facility

Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) yesterday said there were no detainees at its Dhaka facility, known as "Aynaghor", at the moment.

The detention cells of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch were found empty yesterday.

Although the Dhaka DGFI claimed that they were not holding anyone, Mikel Changma, 40, a UPDF activist who was forcibly disappeared on April 16, 2019, from Narayanganj, returned to his friend's home in Chattogram yesterday.

A source who spoke to his family confirmed this to The Daily Star.

A delegation of rights activists visited the DGFI headquarters yesterday morning.

The team, led by Sanjida Islam Tulee, coordinator of Mayer Daak, a platform of the victims of enforced disappearance, had a meeting with the DGFI.

The rest of the delegation included Odhikar Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan, women's rights activist Shireen Huq and academic CR Abrar.

After the meeting, Shireen told the families of some victims, "DGFI said that there are no detainees in its Dhaka facility at the moment. They invited us to visit the facility. They also said that they will form a joint commission to arrange visits for rights activists to 23 other facilities across the country to see if the victims of enforced disappearance are there.

"We have sought an appointment with the army chief to discuss formation of an inquiry committee," she said.

Families who had gathered in front the DGFI office at Dhaka Cantonment were left disappointed by this development.

Nadira Sultana, wife of Ataur Rahman who went missing on December 8, 2011, had rushed to Dhaka from Madaripur yesterday hoping to get back her husband.

"I left Dhaka after my husband went missing. I told everyone I am going to Dhaka to bring back my daughter's father. I left Madaripur at 3:00am," she said.

Another delegation of rights activists had visited the DGFI headquarters on Tuesday but they were told that the authorities would give an update on the victims of enforced disappearance the following day.

After visiting the DGFI office, some of the protesters led by Sanjida Islam Tulee visited the DB detention cells on the seventh floor of an eight-storey building on the DB office premises. The building also houses the office of the DMP's Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit.

"All the cells were empty, but it was evident that those were used until recently. There were some bottles of water and bedding," said Tulee.