'Missing' Islamic preacher Abu Taw Haa returns home

Islamic preacher Abu Taw Haa Muhammad Adnan has been found a week after he mysteriously disappeared on his way back to Dhaka from Rangpur, his family said.

He returned to his father-in-law's home in Rangpur city after the Friday prayers, his brother-in-law Md Zakaria told bdnews24.com

However, he could not provide any details on his whereabouts over the past week.

Abu Maruf Hossain, deputy commissioner of Rangpur Metropolitan Police, also confirmed the development.

The three other people, who were accompanying Abu Taw Haa at the time of his disappearance, have also returned to their homes.

"This is all the information we have at the moment. We will provide further details later,” said Hossain.

Taw Haa later left the home in a police vehicle around 3pm, a relative and a neighbour told reporters.

Asked about the matter, Rangpur Kotwali Police OC Abdur Rashid said Taw Haa was taken to the DB offices in the afternoon.

Further details on the matter will be revealed at a press conference later, the police said.

Taw Haa, a one-time cricketer from Rangpur, studied at Carmichael College. After graduating in philosophy, he studied at Al Jamia Assalafia Madrasa next to his house.

In addition to teaching Arabic online, he visited various mosques across the country and delivered Friday sermons, according to family members. He has also amassed a following of over 50,000 on Facebook.

His family home near the Ahle Hadith Mosque on Rangpur city's Central Road. He lives with his first wife Habiba Noor and their two children in a rented home in the Shalban Mistripara area.

Sabikunnahar, his second wife, lives in a house in Dhaka's Pallabi, where Taw Haa runs a girls' madrasa in two flats on the ground floor.

His mother Azeda Begum lodged a general diary with Rangpur Kotwali Police on the afternoon of Jun 11, alleging that Taw Haa had 'disappeared' on his way to Dhaka with three companions in a car two days earlier.

Following his disappearance, Sabikunnahar sought help from various government departments, including the Prime Minister's Office, Police Headquarters and RAB headquarters, to find her husband.

According to her letter to the Prime Minister's Office, Abu Taw Haa left Rangpur for Dhaka in a private vehicle on Jun 8.

He was accompanied by Abdul Muhith, Mohammad Firoz and driver Amir Uddin Fayez. All four of them, including the car, subsequently disappeared without a trace.

With speculation over Taw Haa's disappearance swirling across social media, Sabikunnahar said her husband was embroiled in a disagreement with a faction of clerics over religious doctrine.

"Because of this, our cries for help did not get much of a response from the well-known scholars. On the contrary, ordinary people and his followers were much more vocal about the situation online."