Activists and well-wishers of Arifur Rahman, the youth who used to collect street children, educate them and give them vocational training under his philanthropic organisation, have criticised the law enforcers for his arrest and remand based on a vague complaint.
Condemnation flooded the social media platforms including Facebook since his arrest along with three other associates on September 12 as the police claimed that the four were suspected human traffickers.
The 10 children rescued from the rented flat of Adomyo Bangladesh Foundation at section C of Banasree in Rampura, all aged between nine and 14, confirmed that it was their shelter home. They were picked up from the streets following close observation by the activists working for the organisation.
The organisation runs two schools for street children in Sadarghat and Agargaon areas named “Mojar Iskul” and “Pothoshishu O Amra.”
The arrestees are Arifur, also known as Arian Arif, Jakia Sultana, Hasibul Hasan Sabuj and Firoz Alam Khan Shuvo. According to the police, the arrestees had failed to show any document of the organisation and that they had no signboard.
Police led the drive after the uncle of Mobarak (one of the rescued boy) filed a complaint with Rampura police. He later lodged a case under the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act 2012.
After the drive, police sealed off the office and seized four computers and 10 mobile phones.
They were produced before a Dhaka court on Sunday and put on a two-day remand. They will be brought to the court today for further hearing in the case.
Investigation Officer Ziarat Hossain said that in interrogation, the arrestees admitted that they had not been following the due legal processes to run a shelter home, launched a year ago. He also said that they had no information about the NGO’s involvement in human trafficking.
One of the arrestees Hasibul last year took responsibility of the Amortize Scholarship Foundation in Tangail to help the street children. “How could he be a human trafficker?” one of his friends questioned.
Since their arrest, people who donated money for Adomyo Bangladesh Foundation and participated in their various programmes have urged the government to investigate the matter seriously and release the youths.
At the shelter home, the children were given general and computer education, as well as training on making paper packets so that earn some money.
Anowar Hossain, deputy commissioner of Motijheel division of police, earlier said that they had conducted the drive after receiving a complaint from a person that his nephew had been kept confined in the flat.
Mobarak’s uncle Munir Hossain claimed that his nephew had been picked up from a madrasa in Goran. He said that the staff also refused to let the child leave the shelter home when he wanted to take him back last week.
“Last Friday, when I went to visit the madrasa to take information about him, I was told that an NGO official had taken him for education,” Monir claimed.
However, Mobarak and police sources said that the child had been picked up from Kamalapur Railway Station. He did not like the madrasa and so was hovering here and there. The activists of Adomyo Foundation took him to the shelter home. But he wanted to leave this place after a month, and was barred by the authorities.
Relatives of several rescued children came to the court on Sunday and spoke in favour of the release of the four activists. The children also told reporters that they wanted to get back to their shelter home.
