AL leader picked up, found later

Parvez Hossain

A ruling Awami League leader was found hours after he was picked up in broad daylight in front of his house in the capital's Lalmatia yesterday allegedly by four unidentified people equipped with firearms and walkie-talkie sets.

Parvez Hossain Sarker, president of Comilla North AL, was forced into a black car around 1:45pm as he returned after offering Juma prayers at Minar Mosque, said witnesses and police.

Later around 11:30pm, he called his family over the mobile phone of a shop in Purbachal area. Police and family members rushed there and found him on 300 Feet Road, said Mohammadpur Police Station OC Jamal Uddin Mir.

The official said he could not talk to Parvez properly as he was sleepy.

“He [Parvez] was drowsy as he had been knocked unconscious by his abductors. He is now sleeping at his Lalmatia home,” Jamal told The Daily Star around 1:15am today, without going into detail.

Parvez, an MP aspirant from Comilla-2 constituency for the next general elections, is a former chairman of Titas upazila of the district.

“Four people with walkie-talkie sets picked up Parvez at gunpoint and took him away on a black car that had a number plate reading Dhaka Metro Gha 14-2577,” the victim's cousin, Fahad Bhuiyan, told The Daily Star.

The abductors were aged between 30 and 35, witnesses and police added.

In a CCTV footage, which The Daily Star obtained from a nearby building, a youth in T-shirt and jeans is seen in front of the main gate of Parvez's rented house in Lalmatia C block.

As Parvez reaches there, the youth shakes hands with him. Another person with long hair appears and holds Parvez tight from behind, and they then take him away.

However, because of the distance of the CCTV camera and also its angle, what actually happened is not fully clear from the footage. It doesn't show the car or other abductors.

The family said Parvez was Titas upazila chairman from 2009 to 2013 but lost the election in 2014. During his tenure, he got locked into a conflict with upazila vice chairman Sohel Shikder.

Last year, Sohel and his men allegedly launched a gun attack on the AL leader.

Parvez, who was in his car, escaped unhurt and a case was filed with Titas Police Station over the shooting, Fahad said, claiming  they suspect Sohel might be involved in yesterday's incident.

Sohel, however, refuted the allegations and told The Daily Star that he was neither involved in the abduction nor attacked Parvez ever. “We have some differences of opinion in politics but I have no personal conflict with Parvez,” he added.  

Contacted, Biplob Kumar Sarker, deputy commissioner of DMP's Tejgaon Division, said they have got some video clips of the incident.

In one clips, they have seen two people taking Parvez inside the car while another closing the main gate of his house from outside, he said.

“We have checked the vehicle number, given by victim's family, with Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, but found it fake,” said Biplob.

Asked if the abductors were equipped with firearms and walkie-talkie sets, he said they were looking into the accounts of witnesses with the help of Detective Branch.