'Missing' Book Importer: Cops now claim he's held for terror links

The book importer, who was picked up by plainclothes men on November 8, is now claimed to have been arrested on Sunday night in a terror case.

His family, however, says he is innocent.

Police claimed Tanvir Yasin Karim, owner of Karim International and Darus Salam Publications, was held in Azad Masque area in the capital's Gulshan.

Until the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police disclosed the arrest, his family was completely in the dark about his whereabouts.

Karim, who graduated from North South University in 2012, was picked up from his Gulshan home just a day after NSU teacher Mubashar Hasan went traceless. The teacher is still missing.

With the book importer, three alleged victims of enforced disappearance, out of at least 10 people who had been abducted or gone missing from the city since August 22, are claimed to have been arrested in different cases.

The missing persons include journalist Utpal Das. Businessman Aniruddha Roy returned home recently 81 days after his abduction.

According to the DMP news portal, Karim, 32, is known as hitman alias "Jin" and he is a top leader of militant outfit “Neo JMB”.

It says he along with another key leader of the banned outfit, Akram Hossain Khan Niloy, had planned and financed the plot to carry out an attack on a gathering paying homage to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the National Mourning Day on Dhanmondi Road 32.

Niloy is absconding.

Police yesterday said Karim is an accused in a case filed after a suspected suicide bomber, Saiful Islam of “Neo JMB”, was killed during an anti-militancy operation at Hotel Olio International at Panthapath on August 15. The law enforcers claimed they foiled the plot through the operation.

A Dhaka court yesterday placed Karim on a five-day remand for interrogation in the case after Sub-Inspector Prodip Kumar of CTTC produced him before the court with a 10-day remand plea.

On November 10, a DMP team arrested Niloy's father Abu Torab Khan, 56, mother Sadia Hossain Lucy, 46, and sister Tajreen Khanam, 29, in Gulshan area in connection with the case. They are from Charigram village in Mithamoin upazila of Kishoreganj.

CTTC Additional Deputy Commissioner Abdul Mannan said they came to know about Karim's involvement in the case from Torab and since then they had been trying to arrest Karim.

He claimed that they along with LIC (Lawful Interception) unit of Police Headquarters and Bogra district police in a drive arrested Karim around 9:30pm on Sunday.

He further claimed Karim joined Neo JMB at the beginning of last year.

Asked about the claim of Karim's mother that her son was picked up from their home 11 days ago, Mannan said he knew nothing about it.

KARIM IS 'INNOCENT'

Karim's 50-year-old mother Sabera Karim yesterday said, "My son is innocent. He leads a very simple life…”

Talking to this correspondent at their house, she described how Karim was picked up that morning.

“I was about to leave for morning walk and my son was in the room. Suddenly, some men in plainclothes came and started to ask me several questions. I asked them who they were and where did they come from. But they neither showed their ID cards nor said anything.

"They asked me whether Karim was my son. Later, they took him away," she said as teardrops rolled down her cheeks.