Police release Pakistan High Commission official after detaining him ‘on suspicion’

Police have released an official of the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka after detaining him for hours.

Abrar Ahmed Khan was taken to Gulshan Police Station after police found his movements suspicious, said DMP Deputy Commissioner Maruf Hossain Sardar on Monday.

Police claimed to have found Indian currency worth Rs 3,500 and said he was released after his identity was confirmed.

“He was handed over to high commission officials after we became certain of his identity during interrogation.”

The Pakistan mission has strongly condemned the incident.

It released a statement saying it noticed “a disturbing pattern of harassment of its officers and officials, followed by a mud-slinging campaign and media trial”.

It said Khan, assistant private secretary at the high commission’s press section, was detained from near his Gulshan-2 residence, close to Agora, at around 11am by plainclothesmen.

It said four of these men were wearing vests worn by police’s Detective Branch.

“These men picked up Mr. Abrar and bundled him in a silver coloured van. The security men then forcefully entered his apartment and took his motorbike with them.”

Khan was released at around 6pm.

The DB men asked Khan for Tk 50 million and threatened to implicate him for possession of fake Indian currency, the Pakistan mission claimed.

“He was also threatened that he will be killed in “crossfire” and “dumped” in a river.”

The mission said it had learned that Khan was being brought to the Gulshan Police Station after it contacted police.

“On his return, he informed the High Commission that he was handcuffed and blindfolded and kept in a moving van for four hours before being brought to the Gulshan Police Station.”

DB Additional Deputy Commissioner Mahfuzur Rahman, who was heading the team that detained Abrar, said Khan was on the motorcycle when he was held.

“He did not have a licence or any papers for the motorbike.” The policemen frisked him and found the rupees, he said.  

“Something like this is out of the question,” said an official of Detective Branch, brushing aside the accusations of harassment.

But Khan, he said, was being watched for a long time. Police have been accusing mission staffers of having ties to militants.

In January last year, Mazhar Khan, a Pakistani official working in the Dhaka mission, was expelled after Bangladesh intelligence accused him of funding Islamist radicals and peddling fake currency.

Pakistan also had to recall Fareena Arshad, its Second Secretary (Political) at the high commission, in December last year after the Detective Branch claimed to have ‘found evidence of her terror links’.