Nearly a month has passed since BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed went missing from a house in the capital’s Uttara neighbourhood, but law enforcers say they still have no idea where he is.
No police high official has been willing to speak about the case and a probe committee, led by Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Joint Commissioner (Crime and Operations) Meer Rezaul Alam, reportedly had no leads in the investigation.
Law enforcement agencies maintain that Salahuddin was neither arrested nor picked up by law enforcement personnel the night he went missing, as alleged by the missing man’s family.
On March 10, BNP Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed was allegedly picked up by law enforcement officials from his relative’s Uttara residence, his family claims.
On April 17, 2012, BNP Organising Secretary Ilyas Ali, disappeared in the capital while on his way home. He remains missing.
Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Haque said in Sylhet on Sunday that Salahuddin had not been whisked away by policemen and that law enforcers were still looking for him.
Since his disappearance, law enforcement agencies including the police, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have claimed ignorance of Salahuddin’s whereabouts.
Law enforcers earlier claimed that Salahuddin was not at the Uttara house that night.
Akhtarul, the security guard at the house from which Salahuddin is claimed to have been taken away, was sent on a 10-day leave after the incident. He has not yet returned to duty, sources said.
The security guard had told media after the incident that four or five armed people, identifying themselves as law enforcement personnel, had entered the building around 10:10pm that night.
He claimed he saw the unidentified persons reappear from the first floor of the building with Salahuddin blindfolded, 20 minutes after entering it.
Hasina Ahmed, the missing politician’s wife and also a former BNP lawmaker, has repeatedly sought the prime minister’s intervention in the matter. She placed a memorandum at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on March 18, nine days after her husband’s disappearance.
Today a further hearing will be held on a writ filed by Hasina Ahmed in the High Court in connection with the matter. The HC bench fixed the date for the hearing on March 16.
On March 12, the HC bench asked the government and law enforcement agencies to explain why they should not be directed to find Salahuddin and produce him before the court by March 15.
Following the order, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Special Branch of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, Rapid Action Battalion and Police Headquarters submitted reports to the attorney general’s office.