Explain statement on Ilias Ali disappearance: BNP to Mirza Abbas

The BNP has sought explanation from the party's standing committee member Mirza Abbas over his statement on the abduction of party leader M Ilias Ali.

Party sources said its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, on behalf of the party's acting chairman Tarique Rahman, sent the relevant letter this afternoon.

The letter reads that Ilias Ali has been missing for the last nine years and public opinion was formed inside and outside the country against the abduction.

"Your statement questioned the public opinion. In such a situation, the party's leaders and activists expect explanations from you…what do you want to say," the letter sent to Abbas reads.

A day after the statement, Mirza Abbas said that the media had distorted his statement on the disappearance of former BNP lawmaker M Ilias Ali.

Mirza Abbas, while attending a virtual programme, had said that someone from BNP was involved in the disappearance.

He also urged the party's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to find those involved in the incident.

But after the statement was published in several media outlets, the BNP leader held a press conference at his residence in Dhaka's Shahjahanpur where he claimed that the media had only partially presented his statement.

"Quoting me, a newspaper published that someone from the BNP is involved in the disappearance of former BNP lawmaker M Ilias Ali. Can anyone prove it? Impossible… I want to say clearly that my statement was distorted.

"The newspapers also said the government and ruling Awami League were not involved in the disappearance of Ilias Ali. I did not say this. It was twisted."