Bus passenger narrates Farhad Mazhar’s 'rescue'

The police and RAB personnel in plainclothes gently woke him up on the bus, says a witness to the ‘rescue’ of controversial columnist Farhad Mazhar who had mysteriously disappeared.

The account comes from Shahrear Polock, a filmmaker who was on the same bus in which Mazhar, the rightist activist and poet, was found early on Tuesday, nearly 24 hours after his family said he had gone missing.

“I was on my way to Dhaka from Khulna on an AC bus of Hanif Paribahan. It picks up passengers from two points in Khulna -- first from Royal Hotel Intersection and then from Shibbari roundabout.

“I do not remember seeing him (Mazhar) when I got on the bus from Shibbari intersection so I suspect he started from Royal,” he told bdnews24.com.

Polock’s journey started at 9:30pm but the bus stopped around 10:45pm at Nayapara in Jessore. The supervisor said it stopped to take in some passengers who were left behind.

“But it did not move for 40 minutes, leaving the passengers annoyed. We asked him to resume the journey but this time he said he was ‘only following orders.’ The driver also looked confused,” remembered Polock.

The law enforcers came at 11:30pm, said Polock who saw at least two cars – one of the police and one of the RAB – sitting in the bus amid rain.

“A team of seven to eight policemen, most in plainclothes, then entered the bus and started the search. They finally spotted Farhad Mazhar in one of the very last seats (I-J) who was probably sleeping there,” said Polock, who was on seat D1.

The law enforcers were very polite with him, he added.

“They asked the rest of us if anyone accompanied him but none responded. Finally, they got off the bus and as much as I could see from inside the bus, they were confused about whether to take him in a RAB car or a police car."

The columnist was clad in a white Panjabi, a blue check lungi and was wearing a piece of cloth like a turban around his head.

“He was also carrying a satchel,” Polock said.

Mazhar was seen in the same attire when he was brought to Dhaka.

Earlier on Monday, a restaurant owner in Khulna City claimed he saw Mazhar dining in his eatery in New Market area around 8pm. The law enforcers then intensified the search in the area.

“Hearing that he dined there, we assumed that he might start a journey towards Dhaka. So we followed and found him at Nayapara,” said Khulna RAB-6 Commanding Officer Khandaker Rafiqul Islam.

Mazhar’s family initially claimed that he had been abducted and that he had phoned his wife to keep Tk 3.5 million ready as ransom.

While briefing the media after ‘rescuing’ Mazhar, Deputy Inspector General (Khulna range) Didar Ahmmed said Mazhar could have staged a drama as there was no other angle to it.

“He was travelling like a healthy person with a bag, money, mobile handset and its battery charger,” said the police officer.

The BNP claims that ‘a government agency’ had kidnapped Mazhar and played out the “drama.”

On being asked whether he believed it was all a drama, Polock said: “No comments. I have shared what I saw as a passenger of the bus.”