Families of disappeared 19 for govt intervention

Families of the 19 persons, who were picked up allegedly by law enforcers about two years ago and never returned, today demanded the government to take necessary steps to find them.

To press home their demand, they held a press briefing at the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka.

Eight of them including Sajedul Islam Sumon, general secretary of Ward-38 of BNP, were allegedly picked up by Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) between 8:00pm of December 4 and 2:00pm of December 5 in 2013 from the city’s Bashundhara and Shaheenbagh area.

Eleven others were picked up by detectives in plainclothes and other law enforcement agency members in two weeks of November and December that year.

Hazera Khatun, mother of Sajedul, requested the prime minister for her intervention into the matter.

“It has been two years. I cannot bear it anymore,” said a crying Hazera.

Samsuddin Mollah, father of Nizamuddin Munna, joint general secretary of pro-BNP Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal's Airport thana unit, urged that all he wants to know is whether his son was buried somewhere.

READ MORE: Bangladeshi families numbed by state’s silence 

Two years after going missing, families are still waiting for the answer behind the disappearances. Photo: Star

Some of the family members said that in addition to writing to the home ministry, they had formed human chains and arranged press briefings several times, seeking help from the government to know whether they were detained or dead or alive.

READ MORE: No trace of 8 since December  

But all their efforts went in vain.