Families of 12 youths, who were allegedly detained by the Detective Branch (DB) of police in a raid on September 5, have held a press conference seeking details about their children.
The conference was held at the Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) office in Dhaka on Sunday.
Parents and relatives present at the press conference urged the authorities concerned to produce the detainees before a court if there is any evidence of their wrongdoing, or release them if they are innocent.
At the event, Mansur Rahman, the father of reportedly detained youth Saifullah Bin Mansur, read out a written statement.
According to the statement, around 40 to 50 youths were detained in a raid, conducted by personnel identifying as DB police, in Tejgaon and Mohakhali area of Dhaka on September 5. All but 12 of the detainees were later released.
The so-called detainees are: HSC graduates Al Amin and Johirul Islam Hasib, Bangladesh Textile University second year student Mujahidul Islam, Titumir College honours fourth year student Jahangir Alam, Govt Sadat College graduate student Saifullah Bin Monsur, SAIC Institute student Gazi Mohammad Borhan Uddin, Dhaka Polytechnic students Tarek Aziz, Mahfuz, Raihanul Abedin, Iftekhar Alam, Mehedi Hassan Rajib, and a second Tarek Aziz.
Families of these above mentioned youths contacted the DB office on September 6 seeking details about their whereabouts, but they did not find any concrete information, read the statement.
Quoting his other son Sifat who was also detained and later released, Mansur Rahman told reporters: “My son spoke of suffering torture. They were trying to make him confess that he was involved in the students’ movement for safe roads.
“However, Sifat repeatedly denied his involvement with the matter. He was released, but there is no trace of my other son Saifullah.”
Mansur also said: “Saifullah came to Dhaka for training, as he got a new job. He lived with his younger brother Sifat and was not involved in the quota or road safety movement.”
Enamul Haque, father of another alleged detainee Johirul, said Johirul came to Dhaka to attend coaching for university admission and was living in a hostel in the city’s Tajkunipara area. Enamul also claimed that his son was not involved in any of the movements.
As per the existing law, anyone detained by law enforcers has to be produced before a court within 24 hours. However, those 12 youths are yet to be produced before a court four days after their alleged detention.
When contacted, DB Additional Commissioner Abdul Baten said: “We are conducting raids at the moment and details of it will be provided tomorrow (Monday).”
