Minister hopeful of rescuing Siddique

Minister of State for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal says a thorough investigation has been completed over the abduction of businessman AB Siddique.

"We have most of the details, like the vehicle used (for the abduction). We hope that he can be rescued soon," Kamal told reporters Thursday.

Armed assailants waylaid the car of Siddique, husband of award-winning environmental lawyer Rizwana Hasan, at Narayanganj’s Bhuigarh and took him away in a van around 3pm Wednesday.

Born and raised in Narayanganj, Siddique was returning from a garment factory at Fatulla.

Rizwana Hasan claims her husband was abducted by people upset with her activism.

The minister, however, claimed on Thursday that the law and order situation was normal.

"We did not expect such a thing. We all want to live in peace. But we can't say the law and order situation has deteriorated because of this ," Kamal said.

Asked on the Indian intelligence agency RAW's nabbing an agent of ISI (Pakistani intelligence agency) from Dhaka, the minister said: "We have said nothing like that happened. We will challenge the news at the right time.

"India is a friendly-nation. It is not honourable for us that RAW would nab a spy from here. It (the incident reported) is not true."