Medical student’s family says he was taken by the CID. The CID denies it

Men claiming to be CID officers allegedly detained a medical student who recently completed his MBBS from Cumilla Medical College

The family of a doctor taken from his home in Dhaka’s Rampura by men claiming to be from the CID have no idea about his whereabouts.

The young doctor, named Shakir Bin Wali, recently completed his MBBS degree from Cumilla Medical College. He was preparing for his FCPS exam in January, according to his family.

Around 3 pm on Sunday, a group of men in plain clothes came to the house, identified themselves as members of the CID and took Shakir away, according to Dr AKM Waliullah, Shakir’s father and ophthalmologist.

Shakir’s mother, his wife and children were at the house then. His father went to Rampura Police Station with inquiries over the matter.

“There was no GD at the police station,” said Rafiqul Islam, chief of Rampura Police Station. “His father came to the station and said that people who identified themselves as government officials took him away. It is likely that they are interrogating him for links tied to militancy. We have heard something like that.”

But Additional Inspector General of Police Mohammad Ali Mia, chief of the CID, said he was unaware of Shakir’s case.

“This isn’t supposed to happen,” he said. “If the CID went on any operation, they should have informed us.”

Dr Waliullah, Shakir’s father, said the men who identified themselves as CID personnel came to their home again at 10 pm on Sunday. One of Shakir’s uncles was home at the time. He asked them for identification. They identified the agency, but did not provide a name or a contact number.

“They told Shakir’s uncle, ‘Your nephew is in our custody. We are trying to find some information. If we get that, we’ll let him go. After that, they took a mobile phone from Shakir’s room and left.”

Dr Waliullah who returned to Rampura Police Station on Monday alleged that the police did not record any complaint.

“They told me, ‘Be assured that your son is in the custody of some agency or the other’. I believe Shakir is with the CID because they came to the house twice. I have heard that, according to the law, a detainee must be brought to court within 24 hours of a person’s arrest.”

Dr Waliullah said he lived in Saudi Arabia at the start of the 1990s. He returned home to Bangladesh in 1995.

Shakir’s wife is also a medical student. The couple has two children – the firstborn is one and a half years old, while the other was born just days ago.

“If my son has committed any offence, let him be tried under the law,” Waliullah said. “He must not be disappeared.”