DIG Ehsanullah ‘mysteriously absent’ from Police Academy in Rajshahi

The senior police officer has been absent from the academy for two days

Deputy Inspector General of Police AKM Ehsanullah has gone missing from the Bangladesh Police Academy in Sardah, Rajshahi, in what police sources described as a “mysterious disappearance”.

Though he had been absent for two days, the matter came to light on Friday.

Superintendent Saiful Islam at the academy, said: “DIG Ehsanullah has been absent since Wednesday. I heard a team from Dhaka came to detain him. His current whereabouts are unknown. The matter is being investigated.”

According to academy sources, a special team from Dhaka went to Sardah on Wednesday morning to arrest Ehsanullah -- currently in charge of the academy’s supply division -- over alleged involvement in “crossfire” incidents and extrajudicial killings during his tenure as superintendent of police in Barishal.

Ehsanullah, however, reportedly fled before the operation began.

Officers said Ehsanullah learned beforehand that a team was arriving to arrest him and left the academy on a motorcycle.

Ehsanullah has been linked to several controversial operations in Barishal, for which cases were filed after Aug 5 last year. Police have yet to issue any official statement on the matter.