A Pakistan High Commission official was detained by the police yesterday afternoon, only to be released some three hours later.
Abrar Ahmed Khan, a Pakistani national working as an assistant private secretary in the press section of Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka, was picked up by the police around 2pm in the capital’s Gulshan.
The police detained Abrar as he was suspiciously roaming around on a motorcycle near the Agora departmental store in Gulshan 2 area, said DMP Detective Branch Additional Deputy Commissioner (North) Mahfuzur Rahman.
Later, it was found that he did not have any driving licence or valid documents for the vehicle.
Maruf Hossain, deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told the Dhaka Tribune that the police also recovered Rs3,500 from Abrar’s possession.
After Abrar identified himself as a staff of the Pakistan High Commission, he was reportedly taken to the Gulshan police station.
Police then informed the Foreign Ministry and the Pakistan High Commission, ADC Mahfuz said, adding that Abrar was finally handed over to the second secretary of the high commission around 5pm.
However, Pakistan High Commission later issued a press release alleging that the police had harassed Abrar, who has been working there since July 2011.
According to the release, Abrar was on his foot when he was picked up in front of his Gulshan 2 residence by some policemen, four of them wearing jackets marked “DB.” They also took Abrar’s motorcycle after forcefully entering his apartment building.
Quoting Abrar, the release claimed that he was handcuffed and blindfolded before being put on a moving van for four hours.
The DB men also allegedly demanded Tk5 crore from Abrar and threatened of implicating him for possession of Indian fake currency. The high commission official was further threatened with crossfire and of being “dumped in the river,” according to the press release.
“The Pakistan High Commission strongly condemns this incident and rejects the false and fabricated charges levelled against its official. Unfortunately, the High Commission sees a disturbing pattern of harassment of its officers and officials, followed by a mud-slinging campaign and media trial,” the press release read.
Commenting on the response from Pakistani officials, ADC Mahfuz told the Dhaka Tribune that such allegations were totally baseless. No police could do anything after knowing the identity of Abrar as a high commission official, he said.
However, DB sources told the Dhaka Tribune that Abrar had long been under their surveillance for suspected links to terrorism financing.
Last year, Pakistan High Commission official Mazhar Khan was expelled from Bangladesh after allegations of terrorism financing.
Later, another Pakistani official named Farina Arshad was sent back to Pakistan after she was also accused of terrorism financing.
