Published : 09 Nov 2026, 09:53 PM
Updated : 09 Nov 2026, 09:53 PM
Two friends who left Bangladesh seeking better lives in Europe are being held in Libya, where their families say traffickers are torturing them and demanding ransom.
Kamal Khalifa and Atik Majhi left home three months ago after being lured by Akash Sardar of Naria’s Lonsing. Their families say they were taken to Libya and handed over to a mafia group.
A video sent to relatives shows the men sitting on the floor of a locked room as they are beaten with belts. The families say they have paid Tk 4 million, selling land and possessions, but the men remain captive.
“We sold everything we had to save my son. We paid around Tk 2 million. They still will not release him and are demanding more money. Please bring my son back alive,” Kamal’s mother Kamrun Nahar said.
Atik was his family’s sole breadwinner. A mason’s assistant, he left behind his elderly mother, wife and 1-year-old son.
“We have no means to pay any more. I appeal to the government to bring my son home,” his mother Amena Khatun said.
Additional Superintendent of Police Zakaria Zaman said Akash had been arrested in two cases under the human trafficking law.
Police would work with relevant authorities to secure the men’s release and bring others involved to justice, he said.
