BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas yesterday hinted that some people from his party had hands behind the disappearance of former lawmaker M Ilias Ali.

He urged BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to find the ones involved in the incident.

Abbas made the remarks at a virtual discussion held to pray for the recovery of BNP chief Khaleda Zia from Covid-19 and to demand that Ilias Ali be returned.

Ilias, who was the organising secretary of BNP (Sylhet division), and his chauffeur Ansar went missing on April 17, 2012, from the capital. The party alleged that the law enforcement agencies picked them up.

The families are still waiting for their return home.

The BNP demonstrated multiple times and observed a countrywide hartal over the "enforced disappearance".

Ilias' wife Tahmina Rushdir Luna on April 19, 2012, filed a writ petition with the High Court claiming that law enforcers illegally kept her husband in detention. She sought HC orders on them to bring her husband before the court.

Abbas yesterday said, "Former MP M Ilyas Ali was an independent, patriotic and courageous leader. The secretary general [Fakhrul] of our party is present here [at the virtual meeting], I would like to tell him, please make arrangements to identify the scoundrels of our party who were behind the disappearance of Ilias. Many people know them.

"The night before he fell victim to enforced disappearance, Ilias had a disagreement with one person at the party office. Ilias rebuked him a lot. Those poisonous snakes are still in our party. If we can't get them out of the party, we won't be able to move forward under any circumstances."

Abbas, also former mayor of Dhaka City Corporation, said, "I got the news between 1:30am and 1:45am that night -- Ilias was a victim of enforced disappearance. I immediately contacted the officials I knew and they informed me that he was being taken to Chattogram.

"The most interesting thing is that the police officers who were there when he [Ilias] was taken, have not been found yet. You [BNP leaders present at the meeting] do not know about this. The police officers who were in the car have not been found as of today. The driver of Ilias's car has also not been found. So, who did this?

"... I assumed that the Awami League government was not involved in the disappearance of Ilias Ali. Who was involved in the disappearance then?"

Former vice-president of Juba Dal Qaiyum Chowdhury presided over the discussion while Fakhrul and other BNP leaders including AZM Zahid Hossain, Shamsuzzaman Dudu, Asaduzzaman Ripon, Khairul Kabir Khokon, Fazlul Haque Milon, and Zahiruddin Swapan took part in the discussion.

Following the writ petition in 2012, the HC issued a rule asking law enforcement agencies to explain in 10 days as to why they should not be directed to produce Ilias before the court or prove that he was not being detained by them.

The HC is yet to start hearing on the rule. Neither the petitioner nor the state has taken any initiative in this regard.

Five law enforcement agencies submitted reports to the HC claiming that Ilias was not in their custody and they did not pick him up or detain him, said sources at the attorney general's office.