Bangladesh Janata Party president, his associate 'missing'; families blame police

Families of Bangladesh Janata Party or BJP President Mithun Chowdhury and Ashik Ghosh, another leader of the recently formed political alliance, have alleged police picked the duo up two weeks ago.

They made the allegation at a news conference at Bangladesh Crime Reporters' Association on Thursday.

Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Adibasi Party President Mithun announced the new alliance in September.

He claimed the alliance had the 'blessing' of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

His wife Sumona Chowdhury Sima said at the media call that law enforcers picked the BJP president and his political associate Ashik from near Priyo Ballabh Jeu Temple at Farashganj of Old Dhaka's Sutrapur on Oct 27.

She alleged the law-enforcing agencies had been harassing Mithun since the formation of the new alliance, BJP.

"He was picked up for forming the new party," she said.

Mithun, publisher and editor of daily Banglar Muktangon, faces several libel suits over a report on land-grabbing in Sylhet, but Sima does not think someone would picked her husband over the report.

Ashik Ghosh's wife Sati Rani Ghosh said Sutrapur Police Station told her that they had nothing to with the detention of the two leaders as a team of police's Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime Unit, led by Assistant Commissioner Ahsan Habib, had detained the duo.

The officers at the police station have refused to record a general diary on the disappearance of Mithun and Ashik.

The law enforcers at the station did not reply to bdnews24.com queries on Thursday.

CTTC Deputy Commissioner Mohibul Islam denied having detained the two leaders.

"Are they militants?" he asked, and added, "There is no question of the counterterrorism unit detaining such people."