Crime & Justice

Enforced disappearance: Man found near Indian border

Family claims he was taken by Rab 16 months ago; victim tells cops he was pushed into India, served 7 months there
Rahmatullah disappearance Dhaka
Rahmatullah

A 20-year-old man from Dhaka's Dhamrai, who had allegedly been forcibly disappeared since August 29, 2023, showed up yesterday at a police station close to the border between Bangladesh and India in Chapainawabganj.

Rahmatullah was picked up from his home by men in plainclothes. Those who picked him up used a vehicle that had "Rab-4" written on it, the family told a press conference in February this year.

Yesterday afternoon, Rahmatullah appeared at Gomastapur Police Station in Chapainawabganj and told the police personnel there that he had been pushed across the border into India after he had been forcibly disappeared for nine months.

Superintendent of Chapainawabganj Police Md Rezaul Karim said that Rahmatullah told police that he served seven months in an Indian prison for illegal entry into that country. Prior to that, he was moved around different locations during his nine months of detention in Bangladesh.

Nine months after he was taken, Rahmatullah was dropped off at the Jashore border one night by two men on a motorbike and was told to walk towards India, the SP said quoting him.

"The Indian police of Gopalnagar (a village in Bongaon subdivision) apprehended him," Karim said.

Md Khairul Bashar, officer-in-charge of Gomastapur Police Station, yesterday said upon reaching the police station, Rahmatullah told them that Indian law enforcers put him and 13 others on a boat on Friday night. 

The boatman was asked to drop all of them off on the other side of the river, the OC said quoting Rahmatullah.

The OC believes that the river Rahmatullah was referring to is the Mahananda.

Khairul said locals found him wandering in their area. He was asking them which place it was.

Rahmatullah was eventually helped to get to the Rohanpur police outpost from which he was taken to the Gomostapur Police Station.

During the family's press conference on February 12, his mother Momtaz Begum described how allegedly Rab picked up Rahmatullah around midnight.

"My neighbours told me that armed men in black uniforms surrounded our house. They dragged my son out and put him in a microbus. A black Rab vehicle stood by," she said.

Rahmatullah's sister Razia had claimed that "Rab-4" was written on the vehicle.

In February, then Rab-4 commander denied the force's involvement in the incident. 

INQUIRY COMMISSION

The Inquiry Commission on Enforced Disappearances has found adequate evidence to suggest that India collaborated with Bangladeshi security agencies to assist in forcibly disappearing people.

In its preliminaryreport submitted to the Chief Adviser's Office, the commission stated that interviews with soldiers in Rab intelligence yielded information about the regular practice of exchanging captives between the two countries.

"On one occasion, two captives were received and subsequently killed by the side of the road after the exchange," said the report.

On another occasion, a captive was handed over alive to another agency. In return, Rab intelligence handed over two captives from Bangladesh to India, read the report.

The report noted, "Whilst the soldier was unable to furnish us with the names of the captives, this level of official security service coordination underscores the systemic and transnational nature of enforced disappearances."

Rights organisation, Odhikar, said, "There is a chance that victims of enforced disappearance are in Indian jails. As many as 158 people forcibly disappeared since 2009 have not come back. The government should enquire about Bangladeshis incarcerated in Indian jails to see if there are any enforced disappearance victims there."

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Enforced disappearance: Man found near Indian border

Family claims he was taken by Rab 16 months ago; victim tells cops he was pushed into India, served 7 months there
Rahmatullah disappearance Dhaka
Rahmatullah

A 20-year-old man from Dhaka's Dhamrai, who had allegedly been forcibly disappeared since August 29, 2023, showed up yesterday at a police station close to the border between Bangladesh and India in Chapainawabganj.

Rahmatullah was picked up from his home by men in plainclothes. Those who picked him up used a vehicle that had "Rab-4" written on it, the family told a press conference in February this year.

Yesterday afternoon, Rahmatullah appeared at Gomastapur Police Station in Chapainawabganj and told the police personnel there that he had been pushed across the border into India after he had been forcibly disappeared for nine months.

Superintendent of Chapainawabganj Police Md Rezaul Karim said that Rahmatullah told police that he served seven months in an Indian prison for illegal entry into that country. Prior to that, he was moved around different locations during his nine months of detention in Bangladesh.

Nine months after he was taken, Rahmatullah was dropped off at the Jashore border one night by two men on a motorbike and was told to walk towards India, the SP said quoting him.

"The Indian police of Gopalnagar (a village in Bongaon subdivision) apprehended him," Karim said.

Md Khairul Bashar, officer-in-charge of Gomastapur Police Station, yesterday said upon reaching the police station, Rahmatullah told them that Indian law enforcers put him and 13 others on a boat on Friday night. 

The boatman was asked to drop all of them off on the other side of the river, the OC said quoting Rahmatullah.

The OC believes that the river Rahmatullah was referring to is the Mahananda.

Khairul said locals found him wandering in their area. He was asking them which place it was.

Rahmatullah was eventually helped to get to the Rohanpur police outpost from which he was taken to the Gomostapur Police Station.

During the family's press conference on February 12, his mother Momtaz Begum described how allegedly Rab picked up Rahmatullah around midnight.

"My neighbours told me that armed men in black uniforms surrounded our house. They dragged my son out and put him in a microbus. A black Rab vehicle stood by," she said.

Rahmatullah's sister Razia had claimed that "Rab-4" was written on the vehicle.

In February, then Rab-4 commander denied the force's involvement in the incident. 

INQUIRY COMMISSION

The Inquiry Commission on Enforced Disappearances has found adequate evidence to suggest that India collaborated with Bangladeshi security agencies to assist in forcibly disappearing people.

In its preliminaryreport submitted to the Chief Adviser's Office, the commission stated that interviews with soldiers in Rab intelligence yielded information about the regular practice of exchanging captives between the two countries.

"On one occasion, two captives were received and subsequently killed by the side of the road after the exchange," said the report.

On another occasion, a captive was handed over alive to another agency. In return, Rab intelligence handed over two captives from Bangladesh to India, read the report.

The report noted, "Whilst the soldier was unable to furnish us with the names of the captives, this level of official security service coordination underscores the systemic and transnational nature of enforced disappearances."

Rights organisation, Odhikar, said, "There is a chance that victims of enforced disappearance are in Indian jails. As many as 158 people forcibly disappeared since 2009 have not come back. The government should enquire about Bangladeshis incarcerated in Indian jails to see if there are any enforced disappearance victims there."

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হাসিনার উসকানিমূলক বক্তব্যে জনগণের ক্রোধের বহিঃপ্রকাশে ৩২ নম্বরে ভাঙচুর

আজ বৃহস্পতিবার বিকেলে অন্তর্বর্তী সরকারের প্রধান উপদেষ্টার প্রেস উইং থেকে পাঠানো এক বিবৃতিতে এ কথা বলা হয়।

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