‘Help Maa, they will kill me’

“My son was shouting ‘Help Maa, they will kill me.’ But nobody came to help him.” Diluara Begum, mother of businessman Shajol Chowdhury, told this to the Dhaka Tribune on Friday as she recounted the harrowing tale of her son’s abduction. “I tried to stop them (the kidnappers) but failed,” she added. Shajol was kidnapped from his rented flat in the Bashundhara residential area, where he lived with his mother and son, on Sunday evening. Although five days have passed, police are yet to find him. Diluara said they were preparing to shift houses to Uttara on the day of the incident. Mohammad Emdad, caretaker of the house, said a person came to the building on the day of the kidnapping claiming to be a driver. When the two went to Shajol’s flat, the ‘driver’ summoned 8-10 others who entered the building. “When I protested, they showed me that they were armed and told me not to do anything or they would kill me,” Emdad said. He added that three of the abductors took him to the ground floor and beat him until he provided them with the building’s CCTV footage. Since the abduction, Diluara and Shajol’s teenage son Shihab have gone to local police and the Detective Branch as well as the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in their search. They claimed law enforcers did not cooperate with them, telling them to make inquiries before filing a general diary (GD). They had still not done the latter. However, police said they received the GD on Tuesday and were investigating the matter. Mahfuzul Alam Rasel, additional deputy commissioner of DMP Detective Branch (north), confirmed the matter. Shajol’s family members said that an officer from Vatara police station came to their house on Friday to take Dilura Begum’s signature on a document. They later learned the document was a copy of the GD. Shajol’s mother and son told the Dhaka Tribune that they suspected the abduction may be related to Shajol's failed second marriage or a dispute with a business partner, though the Dhaka Tribune could not verify the claims. Shajol owns several businesses, including a ship breaking venture in Chittagong. Vatara police station Sub-Inspector Shahin Mohammad Amanullah, investigation officer of the case, said they were investigating the abduction and scrutinizing those who were accused by Shajol’s family. He added that police were looking for CCTV footage from alternate sources in the area, as the footage from the building was stolen by the kidnappers.