'Killed in Motijheel' Hifazat supporter found alive in Chittagong

A madrasa student missing and believed to be dead since the Hifazat-e Islam’s agitation at Motijheel in Dhaka has been found alive.

The members of his family believed Mohammad Al Farooq, 17, had been killed at the Shapla Chattar on May 5 last year following a police crackdown on Hifazat demonstrators.

His name had, in fact, figured on the list of the missing prepared by Hifazat, a Chittagong-based radical organisation.

But Detective Branch sleuths traced Farooq on Wednesday night to the Miskin Shah Mazar next to the Ghani Bakery in the port city of Chittagong.

He is the second child of Solaiman Bin Mobarak, a resident of the Muradnagar Thana area in Comilla.

Before going missing last year, Farooq used to be a student of the Unmul Kora Academy in Dhaka’s Badda.

The members of his family had told police that he had gone missing after taking part in the Hifazat rally.

But Farooq has said after his return that he was at his Muradnagar house in Comilla on the day of the demonstration.

He said he had not attended the rally that day while admitting he was a Hifazat supporter and a follower of its Amir Shah Ahmed Shafi.

Hifazat had held a sit-in at the Shapla Chattar in Motijeel that day, leading to large-scale vandalism and arson at Paltan, Baitul Mokarram, Bangabandhu Avenue and Motijheel from afternoon to late evening.

Police flushed out the Hifazat supporters occupying the place at night, long after the time allotted for the rally had passed.

The Hifazat and the BNP claimed that scores of people had been killed in the police action.

Chittagong’s Detective Branch sub-inspector Santosh Kumar Chakma told bdnews24.com: “Farooq had not kept in touch with his family after going missing. So, his family had taken it for granted that he had been killed that day.”

On Aug 31, Farooq called his mother from an unfamiliar number to say that he was fine and became incommunicado again.

Following the phone call, Farooq’s father lodged a General Diary at Comilla’s Chandina Police Station, leading to sleuths tracking him down at the Miskin Shah Mazar (shrine).

He was handed over to the members of his family on Thursday at the Chittagong office of the Detective Branch.

Farooq told bdnews24.com that he had fled from home because he disliked the tough studies at the madrasa. He came to Chittagong and first went to Shah Amanat’s shrine, where he used to spend the nights.

"I did not like studying at the madrasa. I feared I would be scolded, so I did not go back home,” said Farooq, who had taken shelter in various shrines during his hiding.

However, he was evasive when asked if he had been in touch with anyone from Hifazat-e Islam while he was in Chittagong.

He said he had never seen Shafi in person but only on TV and magazines, stressing again that he had not attended the May 5 Hifazat rally in Dhaka.

Hifazat’s central organising secretary Maulana Azizul Haque Islambadi told bdnews24.com that Farooq’s name was there on the list of people missing since the Shapla incident.

SI Santosh Chakma said they were certain that Farooq had been missing since the Hifazat rally.

He said investigations were on to find out about his activities while he had moved from one shrine to another.

Farooq’s uncle felt the boy had gone into hiding out of his fear of studies.