Unidentified miscreants abducted the husband of Syeda Rizwana Hasan, executive director of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) and winner of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award, from the Jolkuri area on the Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road yesterday.
A gang of seven to eight armed criminals abducted 47-year-old Abu Bakar Siddiqui in broad daylight, when he was passing the Jolkuri area in a red-coloured car driven by his chauffeur Ripon, said Syed Nurul Islam, superintendent of police for Narayanganj.
Quoting Ripon, who witnessed the abduction, the SP said: “While the businessman’s car had been crossing the Jolkuri area near the Bhuiyan Filling Station at Bhuigarh Delpara on the Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road, they [Siddiqui and Ripon] stopped the car after a blue-coloured microbus had hit his car from behind.
“When Siddiqui and Ripon got down to check the damage, the criminals hit them both with pistols. They sped away with the businessman at gunpoint after smearing pepper-like material over Ripon’s eyes,” the SP said.
Also quoting Ripon, Akhter Hossain, officer-in-charge of Fatullah police station, said around seven to eight miscreants carried out the abduction before speeding off towards Dhaka.
Akhter said: “It seemed to us that the criminals had hit the car of the businessman intentionally as part of the plan.”
The OC said Rizwana has filed a case with the station mentioning that her husband was kidnapped in a pre-planned way as revenge for her activities regarding environmental causes. Wing Commander ATM Habibur Rahman, director of legal and media wing of Rapid Action Battalion, said they were trying to trace and rescue the abducted businessman and arrest the criminals.
Ripon, the driver, is currently being interrogated under RAB custody.
When speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, who is vocal in favour of environmental causes, said: “My husband was not abducted for his activities; rather he was abducted for my activities.”
The Narayanganj SP also echoed Rizwana, saying Siddiqui might have been abducted by those who were affected by the activities of the BELA executive director. Without disclosing details for the sake of the ongoing investigation, Narayanganj SP Syed Nurul Islam said the family of the businessman has suggested some suspected reasons behind the abduction.
The SP also said a 12-member committee has been formed to accelerate the operational activities in rescuing the businessman, but added that there were some difficulties in figuring out jurisdiction as the incident took place on the bordering area between Dhaka and Narayanganj districts.
AB Siddiqui, who owns a garment manufacturing unit, previously worked for a garment factory owned by State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid Bipu, as well as working for former Jatiya Party MP and ex-vice president of FBCCI Mohammad Ali.
