Why has he been picked up at midnight? Asks Samsuzzaman’s mother

After losing the elder son – Rabiul Islam, assistant commissioner of Detective Branch (DB) of police – in the Holey Artisan tragedy in 2016, Kariman Nesa found the other son, Samsuzzaman, as a reason for her living.

But she faced another blow when Samsuzzaman, staff correspondent of Prothom Alo, was picked up by some plainclothesmen from his residence in Savar at the dead of night on Wednesday, for a report on Independence Day.

Has my son committed theft? Or robbery? What is his offence? Why was he picked up at night this way? He would go to the police station by himself had he been asked so. Kariman Nesa was found wailing at her brother’s home in Dhamrai in the afternoon.

She was at her village home in Katigram of Manikganj sadar and came to know about the detention of the younger son around 10:00 am. She burst into tears and started sobbing after hearing the news, said the neighbours.

Later, her brother Ismail Hossain went there and took her to his residence in Dautia village of Dhamrai in Savar around 1:00 pm.

After the death of her husband in 2006, Kariman Nesa brought up the two sons as a single mother. She heaved a sigh of relief when Rabiul joined the police force as assistant superintendent and took family responsibilities. But the militant attack on Holey Artisan bakery shattered all of her happiness as Rabiul died while combating the militants.

During a visit to the Katigram residence, the rooms were found under lock and key with a number of neighbours sitting on the yard. Amena Begum, mother-in-law of Kariman Nesa, told Prothom Alo that she (Kariman) broke down into tears after hearing the news of Samsuzzaman’s detention. She went out of her mind and was acting insane.

Her brother Ismail Hossain took her to his residence around 1:00 pm, she added.

A loud yell was coming out of Ismail Hossain’s residence in Dautia village in the afternoon. She was yelling, “God, you have taken my husband, a child. Please return this child to me. I don’t want anything else. My child will stay home.”

Learning about the case, she said, “Is my son a thief? or robber? In which case has he been sued? I just want him to come back to me.”

Talking to Prothom Alo, her brother Ismail Hossain said, “Bad luck did not stop pursuing my sister. This son is everything to her since the death of the elder one. She is acting insane after hearing the news.”

Samsuzzaman wrote a report on Prothom Alo online on Independence Day, incorporating a quote of day labourer Jakir Hossain. Later, a card was published on Facebook with the quote, but a picture of a child was placed there mistakenly.

The Prothom Alo authorities sensed the inconsistency and retracted the card 17 minutes after it was posted. Also, the report was revised and republished online with a note of corrections.

Meanwhile, some plainclothesmen, identifying themselves as members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), picked up the reporter from his residence in Savar around 4:00am.

A certain Golam Kibria sued him in a case under the Digital Security Act. According to his Facebook profile, Golam Kibria is general secretary of Jubo League’s Ward no-11 and former member of Chhatra League’s central committee, two organisations affiliated with the ruling party.