Basharuzzaman, one of 10 missing youths, is also an NSU student

Mohammad Basharuzzaman, who is among the 10 missing youths appearing on a police list after the July 1 Dhaka cafe attack, is also a student of North South University (NSU).

He is the son of Siraj Uddin, headmaster of Lalpur High School in Tanore Upazila of Rajshahi.

Siraj is also a member of the Tanore unit committee of the ruling Awami League.

Abul Kashem, uncle of the missing young man, said Basharuzzaman had cut down on contacts with his family after getting admission in NSU’s electrical and computer engineering department in 2007. He made even fewer contacts after getting married two years ago in Dhaka.

The family came to know about the youth going missing after his name and photo were published in the media, said Kashem, Chairman of Talanda Union Council.

Nibras Islam, one of the five attackers who killed 22 people at an upscale cafe in Gulshan-2 on the night of July 1, before being shot dead by army commandos the next morning, was a student of NSU.

One of the terrorists who killed two policemen in an attack at a check-post near Sholakia Eidgah ground on July 7 morning, before being shot dead by police, was also a student of the private university.

Three of the cafe attackers and dead Sholakia attacker Abir Rahman, all from wealthy families, had studied in top grade and expensive English medium schools. All six had been missing for the past several months.

Seven of the eight persons convicted for the February 2013 murder of blogger and Ganajagaran Mancha activist Ahmed Rajib Haider were also NSU students.

After recent findings suggested that students from affluent families and top private institutions tended to get involved in extremism after running away, the government urged parents to inform the authorities about their missing children.

Then the law enforcers released the names and photos of the 10 youths who have been missing for quite some time.

The mother of ATM Tajuddin Kausar from Lakshmipur filed a police complaint finding her son’s name and photo among the 10 missing youths.

She claimed she did not know her son Tajuddin, an expatriate ‘living in Australia’, was missing.

She said Tajuddin married an Australian woman and they have two children.

Basharuzzaman’s family is also saying the same thing – they did not know he was missing.

They said his Tejgaon address provided by the law enforcers is that of his in-law. He was staying at his in-law’s house before he went missing, they said.

Abul Kashem said the family came to know about the youth’s whereabouts on seeing media reports that Basharuzzaman, the eldest of three siblings, had had no contact with his in-laws for six to seven months.

He said he had heard that his nephew got a job in a foreign company two years ago. He couldn’t name the firm.

Basharuzzaman completed secondary examination at his ancestral village in Rajshahi and then higher secondary at Rajshahi New Government College.

“He was staying at his in-law’s house at Tejgaon in Dhaka after getting married and after getting the job. He came to his village home only once after marriage,” Kashem said.

He also said he could not believe Basharuzzaman, from a ‘family loyal to the Awami League’, would get himself involved in militancy.

His father Siraj Uddin declined to comment on his son.

His mother Banisa Begum Banu said her son was a shy boy and had few friends.

Tanore Police Station OC Abdus Salam said police spoke to Basharuzzaman’s parents after hearing that his in-laws had filed a police complaint before Eid on July 7.

“His parents confirmed his identity but said they had had no contact with him for six to seven months,” the OC said.

He also said police were checking whether Basharuzzaman was still hiding in the country or had fled abroad.

Basharuzzaman’s in-laws in Dhaka could not be contacted.

Tejgaon Police Station OC Majharul Islam said no police complaint on Basharuzzaman had been filed in the past one year.