Staff Reporter :
Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque on Thursday said that poet, columnist and stance critic of the government Farhad Mazhar was not abducted, rather he left his city residence and came back on his own will.
Meanwhile, some civil society members suggested that Mazhar or his wife should hold a press conference immediately and talk to the journalists.
We are hearing from the government which is one sided. We would be clear if Mazhar or any of his family members holds a press conference and put opinion on the latest updates, they opined. However, the IGP said, “Based on the information after primary investigation, it is found that Farhad Mazhar was not actually abducted. He left his residence and came back on his own will.”
He added, “Police could not know how Mazhar went to Khulna. They believe that his abduction drama was staged to embarrass the government and make some money for his so called girl friend.”
The event is held amid renewed speculation over the court testimony provided by one Archana Rani, a former employee and follower of Farhad Mazhar, who suggested he staged his own abduction to get money for her, the IGP said.
Mazhar talked ten times with his wife Farida Akhter through a mobile phone number. He also contacted six times with Archana Rani through another phone number from 5:29am to 7:28pm on July 3, the day he reportedly went missing. A message also received by Mazhar from the same number.
“Analysing the collected information, CCTV footage and crime scene, we have found that he was not abducted. So he went missing willingly to collect money,” he said.
“We are guessing that he staged his abduction drama to embarrass the government and to make some money. He also most probably left the residence early morning to dodge the family members for providing money to the Archana Rani as part of the good relation or love affairs. Even the woman gave confessional statement before a Dhaka court in this regard,” the police chief said.
He also criticized some right leaning leaders, including Dr Zaforullaha Choudhury and Mazhar’s daughter, for their statements at home and abroad.
Responding to a query on whether police have any idea as to how Farhad Mazhar left Dhaka, the IGP said: “We think he left Dhaka in a bus. Police set up check posts in all the districts where his location was traced and all the microbuses were checked. But we did not find him in any of those.”
Replying to another query about whether Mazhar was carrying a bag or not, he said the columnist had admitted to carrying a bag with him during his statement under Section 164 before a court.
He also added that they will scrutinise whether Mazhar had lied, and if found, necessary actions as per law will be taken against him. Meanwhile, court and police sources said a former female employee of Farhad Mazhar’s NGO in a judicial statement on July 10 said Mazhar contacted her several times on July 3, the day he reportedly went missing from residence.
She said the writer gave her Tk 15,000 through a mobile banking platform around 7:00pm that day, they said.
According to her statement, the writer on July 3 called her five to six times and she phoned him two to three times.
Around 6:20am, Farhad told the woman that he was on his way to collect money for her.
“At around 11:00am, I phoned him and wanted to know whether he had been abducted. He told me that he was alright.” She also said she joined Farhad’s organisation UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternative) between 2006 and 2007. She got acquainted with the writer when she was posted in Cox’s Bazar. She left the NGO in 2009.
However, she said Farhad Mazher used to give her Tk 10,000 to Tk 12,000 a month depending on her need and that in April, she asked the writer to give her money.
On July 4, Farhad in a judicial statement before another magistrate said several unidentified men forced him into a microbus and blindfolded him minutes after he came out of his city’s Shayamoli house.
