Shahidul Islam, one of the three arrestees in the Pallabi police station blast incident, was picked up two days before the incident by a group identifying themselves as members of the Detective Branch (DB), claimed his family. He was reportedly picked up from Bawniyabazer in Kalshi area on Monday (July 27) around 3:45pm, Shahidul’s elder brother Rafiqul Islam told media.
Rafiqul also said he also informed the RAB-4 office after his brother was picked up and also presented a copy of the general dairy (GD) he filed with Pallabi police station regarding the incident.
Around 6am on Wednesday, a bomb exploded at Pallabi police station compound in Dhaka that left five, including four policemen, injured.
Pallabi police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Nazrul Islam said a police team recovered the bomb, which was hidden inside a digital weighing machine commonly used in general stores, during an operation in Pallabi’s Kalshi area early Wednesday.
Police arrested Rafiqul Islam, 40, Shahidul Islam, 23, and Mosharraf Hossain, 28 from the Kalshi area during the operation.
When asked about the claim by Shahidul’s family, DMP DB’s Additional Commissioner Abdul Baten said the incident was being investigated by the CTTC and he was not aware of any such complaint.
Meanwhile, RAB-4 Commanding Officer (CO) Mozammel Haque said he had not received any information regarding Shahidul before Wednesday.
Rafiqul Islam said Shahidul, a bus driver by profession, was the fourth among five sons of vegetable seller Abdul Quader in Bauniabad area of Mirpur Section 11.
He said Shahidul was picked up by a group, identifying themselves as members of the Detective Branch (DB), in a microbus from Akkas Ali’s tea shop near his house on Monday afternoon. Later, his father rushed to the spot, but could not find anything.
“Me and my family members were looking for Shahidul and also informed Pallabi police station about the matter. Later, we also went to DB office but did not get any response there,” Rafiqul added.
Later at around 1:30am that night, Shahidul’s mother Piyari Begum filed a GD with Pallabi police station and also informed about the matter to RAB-4 office, he further added.
Akkas Ali, the tea shop owner, told the media that he was not in the store at the time of the incident but his son was there. He heard from his son that a black microbus stopped in front of his shop. Two or three people came down and took out their weapons and approached his shop. They then approached Shahidul, who was buying a cigarette from the shop, and picked him up after confirming his identity.
Shahidul’s brother Rafiqul claimed that he had also received a missed call from Shahidul’s mobile phone on Wednesday morning. When he called back, a stranger from the other end said: “We are in an operation, call later.”
Shahidul’s family became worried after hearing this.
Rafiqul went out late at night in search of his brother. He wandered around the police station area till dawn but returned home without getting any news, he added.
He said his family also heard of the bomb blast, but learned from the TV news at noon that Shahidul is one of the three arrestees.
Rafiqul claimed that his brother was innocent and was being framed.
“I want to know how a man, who has been under arrest for three days, could have exploded a bomb,” he said.
Earlier in the morning, DMP Additional Commissioner Krishna Pada Roy said it has initially been confirmed that the arrested persons were members of a criminal gang based in Mirpur.
“They came to commit a crime, which could have been murder, property theft or robbery. We are investigating the matter. They are being interrogated,” Roy added.
