Youth still missing after 16 months, harassment follows police case

It has been 16 months since Md Asif Imran went missing.

His father Lutfur Rahman, a former manager of the Ashuganj Power Plant, has faced harassment after he filed a case for kidnapping.

A student of American International University of Bangladesh (AIUB), he was called away from his Uttara home by friends on Sep 7, 2015.

He has been missing since. His parents were then in Saudi Arabia performing Hajj. Lutfur said he came back to find that his son had been ‘kidnapped’.

Police arrested some suspects after he filed a case for kidnapping but were not able to trace Imran.

Special Superintendent Rezaul Haider of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headed the investigation.

He said a dead body was found in Narayanganj after Imran went missing. The Anjuman Mufidul, a charity organisation, performed the last rites of the unidentified man.

He said they took DNA samples from Imran’s parents to find out if that man was their son.

Lutfur, fed up with the investigation, came to bdnews24.com offices with the case documents.

He retired from his job at the power station in 2015 and went to perform Hajj with his wife on Sept 4. They returned on Oct 18.

“I was in Saudi Arabia when I was told that Imran’s friends Adar, Akash, Shubho and Monwar have called him away. He never came back.”

The general diary was filed at West Uttara Police Station by Imran’s sister Nazia Tamanna Hridi on Oct 9.

When Lutfur returned, he named Imran’s friends in a case over kidnapping.

“I’ve received many threats since. A year after that, I was falsely accused of fraud involving Tk 2.5 million.

One of Imran’s friends, Golam Mostafa Adar, reportedly sent a letter to the Narayanganj police superintendent on Oct 26, 2015.

“In the letter he said Imran went to former Ward-17 councillor Alamgir in Narayanganj. He didn’t come back after that,” said Lutfur. 

“When asked about Imran, Alamgir demanded Tk 500,000 ransom. He would often ask Imran to join his criminal activities.”

Lutfur said he began suspecting Adar and believed he wrote the letter to the SP as a way to ‘save himself’.

Besides Adar, Lutfur also accused his father Golam Mohammad Kalu, Md Shakil and former city councillor Alamgir.

Adar, the prime accused, secured bail a year after the case was filed. On Oct 18 last year, he filed a case accusing Lutfur of fraud.

He was accused of not returning Tk 2.5 million given to him for business purposes.

“I was performing Hajj with my wife when they said I took this money. My signature was forged in the contract they showed. The CID is looking into the matter.”

“It’s not just harassment, they’ve filed another case with Bongshal police saying that I threatened Adar’s father Golam Mohammad.”

A senior officer at the police station told bdnews24.com that their probe could not find a basis to the allegation made by Golam Mohammad.

“A case is being prepared against the individual who made the allegation,” he said, requesting anonymity.

“My son was called away to Narayanganj. This happened because refused to do whatever crimes the councillor asked him to do.”

“At one point of our search, Adar’s father Golam Mohammad said he would get my son back if I pay him money.”

The CID found evidence that suggest involvement of five more individuals, said an official.

They are Chowdhury Safa Rafsanjani Akash, ‘Monwar’, the driver of the rented vehicle that took Imran to Narayanganj, Subho Poddar, a grocer who had Imran’s mobile phone, former councillor Alamgir’s elder brother’s son Reazul Islam Pritom and ‘Lemon’, accused various in cases of murder and robbery.

A total nine including these five individuals have been arrested in the abduction case, said the CID officer.

“The case made significant progress. There is enough evidence suggesting Imran was taken to Narayanganj from Dhaka.”

“We are waiting for the DNA test results of samples we got from Imran’s parents and the unidentified dead man who resembles him.”

There was no comment from Adar’s family regarding the accusations by Imran’s father.