Staff Reporter :
Quota reformist leader Tarek Rahman was being followed by plainclothes men before he went missing on Saturday, his parents have claimed.
Tarek’s parents Abdul Latif and Shahana Begum brought the claim at a press briefing held at Crime Reporters’ Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) office in the city’s Segun Bagicha on Monday.
According to what they said, Tarek, a Joint Convener of the quota reformist platform, called up a friend to inform that he was being followed by men in plainclothes before he went missing and his mobile phone was unreachable.
He also informed his sister over phone that he was being followed by men in plainclothes before went missing, they said. This would not be the first time that a quota reform leader went missing in Dhaka city. Earlier, another leader Faruk Hassan disappeared in a similar fashion before resurfacing in police custody a day later.
Law enforcers are currently cracking down on quota reform leaders and implicating them in lawsuits – a measure that has dispersed the movement by large.
Tarek, a Joint Convener of Bangladesh Shadharan Chhatra Adhikar Sangrakkhan Parishad, the platform leading quota reform movement, was a Comilla University student who dived into leadership position during the movement.
According to what his parents said, Tarek was an Organising Secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), ruling Awami League’s student front, at Comilla University.
Tarek came to Dhaka for BCS coaching after completing his graduation from Comilla University (CU), his father added.
Devdas Bhattacharya, Additional Commissioner (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said on Sunday that they did not detain Tarek, but they were indeed looking for him.
He went missing comes at a time when most of the top leaders of the quota reform movement are behind bars, some remanded in double phases, and the law enforcers are looking to trace down other quota reform activists.
The quota reformists took to the streets on February 17 and continued the protests for reducing quota in government jobs to 10 per cent from the existing 56 per cent.
In the face of protests across the country, the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced in parliament on April 11 that the quota system in government jobs would be abolished.
The platform began the indefinite strike on May 14 as the government failed to meet their deadline for the publication of a gazette notification abolishing quota system as was announced by Prime Minister.
