Returning from hiding only to be abducted

Three-year-old Zaira Rahman Tridha wants her father back.

Going into hiding for around two months, as the family claims, on “security grounds”, Anisur Rahman Talukder Khokon, a Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal member and former organising secretary, went to visit Tridha and her five-month-old sister Nidha at his Adabar residence in the capital on Thursday around 8:00pm.

Hours later, seven to eight persons claiming to be law enforcers picked him up and since then he has been traceless, said his wife Shah Israt Ajmery.

“I want my father. Bring him to me,” Tridha said holding a large photograph of Khokon at a press conference in the house yesterday. 

Anxiety and fear has gripped the family as law enforcers deny having anything to do with the incident.

“After searching every possible place, we looked for him at the local police, DB (Detective Branch of police) and Rab offices but they could not give any clue,” said Khokon's younger brother Atikur Rahman.

“If my husband committed any offence, he may be tried under the country's existing laws. Why are they not disclosing his whereabouts, even to his family,” said Israt.

Israt said she was unsure about the abductors' identity till Sunday, when she witnessed in television and read in the newspapers of Rapid Action Battalion's (Rab) allegation at a press conference on bomb recovery that Khokon was patronising and financing arsonists.

This made her believe that the abductors were Rab members.

“At around 10:00pm, he was working on the ground floor while I was busy with my two daughters on the first floor,” she said, adding that they went away before she could come down.

While coming down the stairs, she stated to have heard the abductors claiming to be law enforcers.

The residence has been under watch for the last couple of days, she added.

Israt threatened to go on hunger strike with her two daughters in front of Jatiya Press Club for Khokon's immediate return.

“If we had arrested him, we would have definitely handed him over to the local police,” Rab Legal and Media Wing Director Mufti Mahmud Khan told The Daily Star.