Father believes abducted son in custody of ‘administration’

The father of physician Iqbal Mahmud who was abducted from the capital’s Science Laboratory area, AKM Nurul Alam, on Saturday said he thinks his son is in custody of the administration.

“The law enforcement is avoiding us. This creates a doubt. There was a police van present at the spot where my son was picked up. The police would go for immediate action had my son been picked up by the people other than the law enforcement,” said Nurul Alam addressing a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity in the capital.

A medical officer of the health directorate, Muhammed Iqbal Mahmud was whisked away in a microbus by seven or eight people shortly after he got down from a bus at the Science Laboratory intersection around 3:10 o’clock on the night of 15 October.

CCTV footage shows that a police van was seen following the microbus
. There has been no news of this doctor since then.

Addressing the press conference, Nurul Alam said he is not satisfied with what the law enforcers are doing in the name of searching for his son.

He said police and RAB told him and the court that they formed a committee and set up check posts at different places.

“But, the law enforcement has said nothing about a microbus, a motorcycle and a police van which were seen on the spot. The law enforcement has disclosed no information in two months as to where the vehicles headed from the Science Laboratory crossing.”

Nurul Alam said he convened the press conference to speak about media reports on his son. Quoting unnamed sources in the Detective Branch of the police, the media reports claimed Iqbal Mahmud was involved in militancy and significant information was obtained from his pen-drive.

He said none of the law enforcement gave information that his son was involved in militancy, either to him or to the court.

He said the media reports lack clarity whether the piece of information was given by the law enforcement agencies or was concocted.

The father called on the law enforcement to make their position clear.

He claimed that his son had no time for anything other than his post-graduate studies.

Nurul Alam is still optimistic, despite no trace of his son in two months. He said that he is informed through newspaper reports’ that five youths, who were arrested in Chittagong recently, were in fact picked up from different places six months to one year ago.

DB police is investigating Iqbal Mahmud’s abduction case. Investigation officer of the case Arifur Rahman said that they have been trying, but there is no breakthrough yet. RAB is also investigating, without any progress.

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