Mysteriously missing

Police are yet to find a government medical officer who was reportedly abducted from the capital's Dhanmondi area 37 days ago.

As his father launched a frantic search to find his son, Muhammed Iqbal Mahmud, the High Court yesterday asked law enforcers what steps they had taken to find the missing man.

The court directed the authorities concerned of the government to submit a report before it in 10 days on what steps had been taken to trace the missing physician.

It also issued a rule upon the authorities to explain in four weeks why their inaction to find the doctor should not be seen as negligence in duties, Deputy Attorney General Amatul Karim Swapna told The Daily Star.

The bench of Justice Tariq ul Hakim and Justice Md Faruque came up with the order and rule following a writ petition filed by Iqbal's father AKM Nurul Alam on November 15, seeking necessary orders from the HC to find his son.

Iqbal, a medical officer of the Directorate General of Health Services, remained missing since he was “abducted” from Science Laboratory intersection in the capital's Dhanmondi area allegedly by law enforcers in early October 15.

A CCTV footage obtained by this newspaper from Iqbal's father showed seven to eight people forcibly taking the victim into a microbus soon after he had alighted from a bus at the intersection. The microbus then whisked away. A pick-up that appeared to be a police van was seen following the microbus in the footage.

Nurul, who says he is a freedom fighter, alleged that Dhanmondi police dilly-dallied for a day before taking a case in connection with his son's abduction. He said he managed the CCTV footage from a nearby shop with the help of Dhanmondi police.

Even though the footage clearly showed his son was being taken away, police did not accept the case until the next day.

Asked, Dhanmondi Police Station's Officer-in-Charge Abdul Latif said when Iqbal's father first visited the police station, he advised him to look for Iqbal at his friends' and relatives' houses.

“When he came to the station the next time, we filed the case,” he said.

As the registration number and other details of the pickup in the footage could not be known, the footage was given to the Criminal Investigation Department for analysis, he added.

The OC said he also asked nearby police stations whether they had any pick-up patrolling the area that night.

Meanwhile, a police official said they suspect Iqbal's involvement with “Neo JMB”.

“We have intelligence report that he has some sort of links, including to terror financing. We are trying to find his roles,” the official said wishing anonymity.

He did not say whether Iqbal was in police custody.

The official, however, added that Iqbal did not seem to be a significant financer of militancy.

Iqbal's father, a retired government official, alleged that he had visited law enforcement agencies and the home ministry several times, but “there was no cooperation on their part to locate my son.”

Asked about his son's suspected link to militancy, particularly financing “Neo JMB”, Nurul outright rejected the allegation. “My son cannot have any such link. He was always present at his workplace and maintained regular contact with me and his wife.”

He said Iqbal was saddled with bank loans and was paying instalments. He took the loans to set up a clinic and buy a car. “I can in no way believe my son was a militancy financer.”

Nurul said his son was recruited through the 28th BCS exams and was posted to Comilla Medical College Hospital. He came to Dhaka on a two-month training in Anesthesiology at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in September.

Iqbal's wife is also a physician and lives in Laxmipur with her parents. He was abducted when he arrived in the capital after spending a weekend in Laxmipur, the victim's father added.

In his statement in the petition, Nurul described what he saw on the CCTV footage. He said shopkeepers and rickshaw pullers there at the time were eyewitnesses to the incident. Police are yet to report on any progress made in investigations so far.

RESPONDENTS TO THE HC RULE

Home secretary, inspector general of police, commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, its deputy commissioner (south), director general of Rapid Action Battalion, commanders of Rab-2, Rab-3 and Rab-11, deputy commissioner of detective branch of police and officer-in-charge of Dhanmondi Police Station have been made respondents to the rule.