Two siblings – Faruk and Firoz Sardar, both book traders – kidnapped on Friday by people allegedly dressed as detective police, have been freed unharmed by the captors on Monday evening.
A micro-bus, after dropping the still-blindfolded abductees at the Malibagh intersection, sped away before anyone could react. On Tuesday, the detective branch of police took their statements at a Dhaka court and filed a case on the incident.
“After we reached home, we went to the Darussalam Police Station and spoke to the officer in charge. The OC sent us to the DB office as the case had already been transferred there. DB officials sent us to court the day after,” said Faruk.
The eyewitnesses of the abduction said that one of the abductors were wearing a vest that had a two letter inscription on its back. Only detective police wear such jackets with DB written at the back.
When contacted, DB Inspector Anwar Hossain claimed they were yet to know for sure who had abducted them – criminals or not. The DB is still investigating the kidnapping.
Faruk, Firoz, and their family has been living in Darussalm for the last seven years. Faruk lives on the ground floor of a two-storey building with his wife, two children, and parents while Firoz lives on the ground floor of an adjacent three-storey building with his wife and twin sons.
The cinematic raid at their house that night panicked their family members and neighbors. They are happy that the abductees are back home safely.
Police has confirmed that no complaint against the siblings with any police station is registered.
84 hours in captivity
The two brothers, yesterday, decribed their 84-hour ordeal – kidnapped from their Darussalam house, and taken to an unknown place by unknown people.
On Friday, more that 10 armed men stormed their house, behaving exactly like policemen on raids, and forced the two siblings into a white microbus. Before the “arrest” the “law enforcers” cared to cease the cell-phones of the rickshaw-pullers and guards present in the alley that leads to the house.
“They blindfolded our eyes as soon as they forced us into a white micro bus. The vehicle started moving and I asked one of them...Sir, what have we done? Where are you taking us?” said Faruk, 32, the elder of the two brothers.
The armed men ordered that Faruk shut his mouth, saying: “We will tell you in right time.”
After almost an hour, the microbus stopped, and the blindfolded brothers had to walk for five minutes to an unknown location. Faruk sensed that they had arrived at a building as he had to make his way up a slope. “Perhaps it was close to the airport as I used to hear heavy sound of plane engine after few minutes.” he added later.
After his blindfold was removed, Faruk found himself inside a room, being received by a young man, aged between 20-22 years. His brother was nowhere to be seen.
“The room had no window, no furniture. A white bulb was only source of light.” he said. The room was approximately 20 feet long and 12 feet wide.
No one asked him any questions. He was served parathas and veggies in the morning, rice and beef for lunch, and rice with egg curry for dinner.
“No one tortured me. When I needed to go to the privy, I would knock on the room’s door that was always kept locked from outside. Two youths would come, blindfold me and take me to the washroom. Every time I went to the washroom, they threatened me not to shout or ask questions; otherwise, they would kill me,” he added.
Firoz, 27, also described a similar room where he was kept seperately.
“I thought I would be killed. So, I grabbed the legs of a youth who came with food, and pleaded to see my elder brother. He kicked me away,” he said.
The youths had asked him about their earnings and the rent of their houses; no questions regarding them being involved in any criminal activity were asked.
On Monday evening, a new group of people appeared at their rooms. They blindfolded both of them again, and boarded them into a vehicle. After 45 minutes, they were freed, still blindfolded, at the Malibagh intersection.
Just before they were released, their cell phones were returned. The brothers then called their families who had by then filed a case with the Darussalam Police Station, and had also contacted DB and Rab.