Joynal Abedin Khan :
Blame game is being traded between the government and BNP for a few days over the issue of BNP Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed, who went missing on March 10.
Salahuddin’s family members and law enforcers are giving contradictory statements on the issue. In this backdrop, the nation is now in utter confusion relating to the whereabouts of Salahuddin, also a former state minister.
Mixed reaction is prevailing among the people due to the contradictory statements of the law enforcers and the BNP leader’s family members. Besides, contradictory claims are also being made by the government and the BNP. State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at a discussion in the city on Tuesday claimed that Salahuddin is in self-concealment. He remains in hiding.
The state minister also said Salahuddin stayed in a secret place and was issuing political statements to media in a Taleban style. “We had been looking for him, and now Detective Branch (DB) of Police is working to trace him,” he said.
Earlier, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Shahidul Hoque claimed that the law enforcers did not arrest him and still he is traceless.
Following a writ petition filed by his wife Hasina Ahmed and at the instruction of the High Court, all four law enforcing agencies- Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Special Branch (SB) submitted separate reports to the Attorney General’s office, denying their any role in Salahuddin’s disappearance.
In its statement, the DMP authorities claimed that Salahuddin disappeared on his own and no law enforcement agencies had arrested him. Meanwhile, BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, at a press conference has demanded the immediate release of her party’s leader.
In a similar incident, the BNP chief said, Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna was also picked up by DB from the capital on February 24. “It (government) earlier denied that Manna was not picked up by law enforcers, but around 21 hours later police produced him before the court showing him arrest in a case after making a drama.”
Meanwhile, Salahuddin’s wife on Thursday formally appealed to the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, seeking her initiatives in tracing out her husband.
She claimed that Salahuddin was picked up by those who identified themselves as detectives to the security guard of the house from where he was picked up.
On Wednesday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a report published on its website said that the Bangladeshi authorities should immediately order an independent investigation into the enforced disappearance of Salahuddin Ahmed.
