Rizwana wants whereabouts of husband

Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association (BELA) chief executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan said she did not get whereabouts from the law enforcers about her husband Abu Bakar Siddique who was reportedly been abducted on Wednesday.

"The law enforcing agencies are trying their best to rescue my husband. I haven’t lost my hope yet to get him back. I'm getting apparent support from the agencies and the government," Rizwana told a press conference at BRAC Centre in Dhaka on Thursday.

Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman and chairperson Sultana Kamal, information commissioner Sadeka Halim and columnist Syed Abul Maksud, among others, also spoke at the press conference.

They sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s intervention in rescuing Abu Bakar.

"We hope the law enforcing agencies will regain the trust of people through rescuing Abu Bakar Siddique immediately. We seek the honorable prime minister’s intervention in this regard,” said Iftekharuzzaman.

He said abduction of a person, who is the husband of an internationally renowned environmental activists, shocked the people.

Responding to a question Rizwana, winner of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2012, said she was not informed about her husband’s conflict with anyone in her 20 years of conjugal life. “Nobody phoned me yet demanding extortion and claiming that my husband has been abducted."

The BELA chief executive said some private companies suffer financial loss due to her legal steps taken to protect the country’s environment. “So, those should be brought under the investigation.”

Miscreants abducted Abu Bakar Siddique at Fatullah on the Dhaka-Narayanganj link road on Wednesday afternoon while he was returning to Dhaka from his workplace in his car.

Meanwhile, Rizwana filed a case with Fatullah police on Wednesday night in connection with the incident.