Neither any RAB member fled, nor went on work abstention: Spokesperson
Though there were reports that many members of the police had fled after the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August in a student-people mass uprising, no member of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) had escaped, said Lieutenant Colonel Munim Ferdous, the spokesperson of the force, Sunday.
RAB’s legal and media wing director further said that neither any member of RAB escaped nor they went on strike before and after 5 August, in response to journalists’ questions at a press conference organised at RAB’s media centre in the capital’s Karwan Bazar today.
Munim Ferdous said RAB is a composite force; members from around eight forces come here. Of these, about 44 per cent come from the police. The largest share here is the police - close to 50 per cent. RAB is actually a small force with nearly 10,000 members. Of this 10,000 members, 44 per cent are the police. But none of the members fled.
Munim Ferdous stated, “We were together from the beginning to the end. Many faced different types of problems but our RAB forces never had any problem.”
“I have said earlier too that no RAB member used any lethal weapon on the student-people. Rather, RAB was with the movement of students and the people. We are doing everything we can to make this uprising successful,” The RAB spokesperson stated.
Munim Ferdous informed the media about making arrests of 39 senior leaders after the fall of the AL government.
He said that those who are the main accused in cases filed are being arrested every day. A total of 1,170 people have been arrested since 5 August while 219 weapons and 10,642 bullets have been recovered.
Kidnapped child rescued
Addressing the press conference, Lt. Col. Munim Ferdous spoke about the rescue of Abdullah Al Nur Tushar, a first grader kidnapped from Sadarghat in Dhaka, from Mathbaria in Pirojpur.
He said that an eight-year-old child, Abdullah Al Nur Tushar, was kidnapped from Soarighat area of Sadarghat on 30 September. A young man, Badal alias Hridoy, met Tushar’s mother on the phone. Tushar’s mother took him to meet Badal in Soarighat area that day.
But Badal kidnapped Tushar, alluring him to buy chips. Later, the child’s mother filed a general diary (GD) at the Kotwali police station in Dhaka.
On 2 October, a man phoned the child’s mother and demanded a ransom of Tk 200,000. Then Tushar’s father filed a case.
The RAB spokesperson said following this complaint, the RAB-2 and RAB-8 conducted a joint operation and rescued Tushar from Amragachhi Hogolpati area of Mathbaria in Pirojpur on Saturday night.
Sensing the presence of RAB, the accused fled. Efforts are on to arrest the main accused, Badal, and other perpetrators, he added.