UK family of 12 with Bangladesh roots may have gone to Syria with baby and grandparents

A British family of 12 with Bangladesh roots, including a baby and two grandparents, are believed to have gone to Syria after they were reported missing, say British police.

The family, from Luton in Bedfordshire, central England, have not been seen since mid-May when they failed to return home after a holiday in Bangladesh, reports Reuters.

Police on Wednesday said they had flown to Turkey and were then due to travel on to Britain, but were instead reported missing by a relative.

"There is a suggestion that the family may have gone to Syria, however police have so far been unable to corroborate that information," Bedfordshire Police said in a statement.

Some 700 Britons are thought to have gone to Syria, many to join Islamic State militants, who have taken control of large areas of the country and neighbouring Iraq.

Mohammed Abul Kashem Saker. Photo: Bedfordshire Police/Handout

Last month, 12 members of another family, three sisters and their nine children from northern England, were suspected of travelling to war-torn Syria to join the militant group.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said Britain needed to confront the ideology that was luring Britons to Syria and has said his government would step up measures to confront those who espouse extremism at home.

"We are devastated by the disappearance of these 12 and are very concerned for their safety," a relative of the missing Luton family said in a statement.

"This is completely out of character and we are very worried of the danger they may now be in. This just does not make any sense.

“We can only think they have been tricked into going there, it is no place for elderly or young people," the statement read.

The grandparents, Muhammed Abdul Mannan, 75, and his wife Minera Khatun, 53, both had health issues, Reuters reported quoting police officials.

The BBC in a report said Mannan had diabetes and his wife, cancer.

It said Bedfordshire Police was unable to confirm whether the family had crossed the border, but they were investigating.

They also did not say whether any of them was on any terror list.

Mohammed Toufique Hussain. Photo: Bedfordshire Police/Handout

Mohammed Zayd Hussain. Photo: Bedfordshire Police/Handout

The BBC report identified the other members of the family as the couple’s daughter Rajia Khanom, 21, and sons Mohammed Zayd Hussain, 25, Mohammed Toufique Hussain, 19, Mohammed Abul Kashem Saker, 31, and his wife Sheida Khanam, 27.

Also, Mohammed Saleh Hussain, 26, and his wife Roshanara Begum, 24, along with three children, aged between one and 11, were also part of the family.

The family had flown to Bangladesh on Apr 10 and flew back to Istanbul on May 11, the BBC said quoting police. They were set to return to England after three days but failed.

Ashuk Ahmed, a community leader in Luton, told the BBC that he knew the family for 35 years.

He said no one knew if they had joined a specific extremist Islamist group in Syria.

Ahmed said several people in the community had told him that some women of that family might have been radicalised and taken the others with them to Bangladesh to avoid detection.

The BBC report quoted Bedfordshire Police as saying that a member of the family was in touch with the relatives in the UK but they did not say where they were.