The police said he “went into hiding for personal reasons” as speculations were swirling over his mysterious disappearance.
Three others - Abdul Muhith, Firoz Alam, and Amir Uddin Fayez – were with Taw Haa at his friend Siam Ibne Sharif’s home at Paschim Piarpur village in Gaibandha Sadar Upazila.
The families said in general diaries that they lost contact with the four on Jun 10 when they reached Dhaka’s Gabtoli from Rangpur by a car. Amir Uddin was the driver.
The police said they set course for the north from Gabtoli on that night.
Nishat Nahar, the mother of Taw Haa’s friend Siam, said Taw Haa and three others took shelter at her home on Jun 11.
She stays at the tin-roofed house alone in the quiet neighbourhood after her husband died a year ago. Siam lives in Rangpur for job and his sister with her husband in Dhaka.
A relative of Siam and the chairman of Boali union council, Abdul Mazed Khan said Siam and Taw Haa became friends while studying at Rangpur Lions School and College.
Siam’s mother Nishat said the car that dropped Taw Haa and the others on Jun 11 returned on Jun 18 to take them back.
Taw Haa sought shelter from Nishat saying he felt insecure because someone might have been following him.
“I said, ‘No problem’. He had come to my house several times before.”
The Islamic preacher and his companions stayed inside the house and spent time praying or reciting the Quran, according to the woman.
Asib Mia, a neighbour, said he saw a car entering the house, but did not know who had come.
In addition to teaching Arabic online, he visited 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 is near the Ahle Hadith Mosque on Rangpur city's Central Road, but 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.