'Raihan' stayed in Uttara house

Two security guards of a Uttara house, from where BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed supposedly went missing, said a guest staying in one of the flats left in a car with four-five others on March 10 night, according to a police report.

In the report submitted before the High Court yesterday, police claimed that they had no idea where Salahuddin was.

Guards Ashraful and Akhter told police that one Raihan, a guest of tenant Habib Hasnat, left the house around 9:00pm on that day. They said they did not know if this "Raihan" was Salauddin.

They said the people with whom the guest left did not appear to be law enforcers and that they came in, went to banker Habib Hasnat's flat, stayed there for about half an hour, and left with the guest and he had no handcuffs on, the police report said quoting the guards.

The guards said Habib Hasnat and his wife Sumona were not at home and that the couple had left four days before to the incident, leaving “Raihan” in their home. The duo also told the guards that more guests would come to stay.

The security guards made the statement on Wednesday before Officer-in-Charge Md Rafiqul Islam of Uttara West Police Station, with which police filed a general diary regarding Salauddin going missing.

In the report OC Rafiqul said neither Hasnat nor Sumona could be reached over the phone.

The police headquarters placed Rafiqul's report before the HC yesterday through the attorney general's office.

The HC adjourned hearing on this issue until 3:oopm today.

The report said the other residents of flats in the building stated that law enforcers had not picked up anybody from there.

Yesterday, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam also placed four other reports before the HC during the hearing of a petition seeking HC order on the government to find Salauddin and produce him before it.   

Offices of director general of Rapid Action Battalion, Criminal Investigation Department, Special Branch of Police, and the commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police sent the reports to the attorney general's office for submission before the HC.

The reports said Salauddin was not in their custody and none of them had detained him and that they were trying to locate him.

The HC on March 12 had asked the authorities concerned to explain as to why they should not be directed to find and bring BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed before it at 10:30am yesterday.

The HC bench of Justice Quamrul Islam Siddique and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore came up with the rule following a petition filed by Hasina Ahmed, wife of BNP spokesperson Salauddin.

During the hearing yesterday, petitioner's counsel Moudud Ahmed told the court that the documents were not legally acceptable, as they were not submitted through affidavits and their copies were not served to the petitioner's counsels.

The court then asked the attorney general's office to submit the reports to the court through affidavits and to supply their copies to the petitioner's counsels before 3:00pm today.