Officials of a private bus company say poet and columnist Farhad Mazhar bought his ticket to Dhaka from their Khulna counter under a false name on Monday night.
A menu card, issued by Grill House in Khulna city. The owner of it claimed Farhad Mazhar had a meal in the joint
Dhaka TribuneThat night, when he was allegedly cast off by abductors from a microbus in the southeastern city, 70-year-old Farhad also had dinner at the popular eatery Khulna Grill House, its owner claimed to the Dhaka Tribune.
Hanif Paribahan Shibbari intersection counter's Manager Nazmul Sadat Sadi said around 3:40pm Monday, an elderly man in white clothes walked in and asked for a ticket to Dhaka.
“He identified himself as Mr Gafur and picked the I3 seat on the 9pm bus,” he said.
The number provided against the name was also not his.
That evening, when a Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) team walked in and showed a photo, people at the counter were immediately able to identify Farhad and give them the bus number (coach 505).
Coach 505 Supervisor Hafizur Rahman said there were 27 passengers in the bus. Of them, 12 were from Khulna and the rest were from Jessore.
Hanif Paribahan coach 505 supervisor, Hafizur Rahman. Farhad Mazhar was rescued from this bus
Dhaka TribuneFarhad also reportedly ate dinner in Khulna. The Khulna Grill House in the New Market area is a 10-minute walk from the bus counter.
His characteristic white garment made him easily identifiable, owner of Grill House Abdul Mannan said.
“I am telling you exactly what happened. There is no pressure on me to say this,” he said.
Mohammad Bappi, a local of Khulna's Doulatpur, was sitting next to Farhad in the bus.
Hanif Paribahan's seat row, which Farhad Mazhar took in the bus
Dhaka TribuneHe said his co-passenger was mostly asleep and he could not recognise the man because of the low light in the bus.
“I later realised who he was when police took him from the bus,” he said.
Shariful Islam from Kushtia, who sat in I1 close to Farhad, said he got on the bus with the man.
“I immediately recognised him,” he said.
On Monday morning, the poet and columnist went out for an early walk and then called his wife Farida Akhter at around 9:30am to say he had been abducted and that his kidnappers were demanding Tk35 lakh for his release.
A team of RAB 6 found him in a Dhaka-bound bus of Hanif Paribahan in the upazila’s Noapara area around 11:30pm.
