Staff Reporter :
The families on Saturday demanded the whereabouts as well as release of the five boys who were picked up allegedly by detectives from the Dhaka Airport area four days ago.
A panic has been prevailing among the family members as they are in total dark over the lives of the missing boys.
But, police denied the claim of the families.
The missing five boys are: Shafiul Alam and his brother Monirul Alam, Abul Hayat, Safiullah, and Mosharraf Hossain Maaz.
”We did not get any information on the whereabouts of the five boys, although we have been contacting with different police stations of Dhaka and Detective Branch (DB) office for the last three days,” said Ramisa Khanam, mother of Shafiul and Monirul, at a press briefing at the Crime Reporters’ Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) in Dhaka.
The families are deeply concerned as police are yet to confirm the detention of the boys, she in tears said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner (Media) Masudur Rahman of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) denied the detention of the five boys.
Earlier, a team of plainclothed men pulled Shafiul, Monirul and Monirul’s friend Abul Hayat out of a microbus and took them away from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, said Ramisa Khanam.
The incident took place when she arrived at the airport around 8:30pm on September 12 after performing hajj.
She along with her two sons boarded the vehicle to go their village home.
Before leaving the place, the plainclothed men identified themselves as DB members showing their identity cards and firearms, she claimed.
The DB men along with Shaiful went to his house in Jatrabari at the same night and picked up his two roommates – Safiullah and Mosharraf, Ramisa said.
The family members urged the human rights organisations to raise their voice against the confinement of their dear ones.
On September 10, 12 students picked up allegedly by detectives from Dhaka’s Mohakhali and Tejgaon areas were finally produced before a Dhaka court a day after the families at a press briefing asked the authorities to either release their children or produce them before a court if they had committed any crimes.
