Mufti Muhibullah admits to staging his own kidnapping: Police

Mufti Muhibullah Miaji, khatib of the T&T Colony Jame Mosque in Tongi, Gazipur, has confessed to faking his own abduction.

The confession came after police uncovered inconsistencies in his claims through CCTV footage and travel records.

At a press briefing today (28 October), Additional Police Commissioner (Crime) of the Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) Taherul Haque Chouhan said that Muhibullah initially appeared at Tongi Police Station, claiming to have been kidnapped and later rescued in Panchagarh.

He later filed a case as the plaintiff in the alleged kidnapping.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), Muhibullah, widely known on social media as Maulana Mufti Muhibullah Madani, claimed he was abducted around 7am on 22 October from in front of the Shilmun Axis Link CNG Filling and Conversion Centre in Tongi while out for a morning walk.

He said four to five unidentified men forced him into an ambulance, blindfolded him, and tortured him before abandoning him with his hands and feet tied in Panchagarh after a day's journey.

He stated that passersby rescued him and contacted police through the national emergency number 999, after which Panchagarh Sadar police took him to the hospital for treatment.

Following his reported "rescue", he returned home to Gazipur with police assistance.

However, the police investigation soon began to expose contradictions in his story.

Investigators collected CCTV footage from the area stretching from Muhibullah's residence to the alleged crime scene.

The footage showed him walking alone past several locations, including the Nimtali CNG pump and Majukhan area under Pubail Thana, without any sign of an ambulance.

CCTV footage later placed him near Plaza AR in Dhaka around 11:30am that same morning—hours after the supposed kidnapping.

Further analysis revealed that Muhibullah bought a Shyamoli Paribahan bus ticket from Gabtoli, Dhaka, to Panchagarh at 2pm the same day.

Additional footage from a rest stop at the Pentagon Hotel in Bogura confirmed he got off the bus to pray before reboarding.

Police verified the information through the bus company and passengers, establishing that he had travelled to Panchagarh voluntarily.

When confronted with the evidence, Muhibullah admitted that he had gone to Panchagarh on his own.

Describing his actions, he told police, "I went for a walk. It came to my mind that I should keep walking. I cannot say in which direction I went. I got into an auto-rickshaw, and I got off at Mirer Bazar. After getting off, I felt like going to Joydebpur. I got into a CNG, went to Joydebpur.

"After that, it came to my mind that I should get on a bus now. I got on the bus, and they dropped me off somewhere. From there, I got on another bus and went to Gabtoli. There, I felt like buying a ticket. It came to my mind that I should go to Panchagarh."

He further said that upon reaching Panchagarh, he wandered aimlessly before finding a chain. He then decided to relieve himself, during which urine got on his clothes, so he removed them. He then laid down in the cold and chained his legs.

"I had no thought process as to why I was doing this; I was just doing whatever came to my mind," he said, according to the police.

Additional Commissioner Chouhan said, "Although he initially tried to tell a different story, after being shown all the evidence, he confessed that he staged the kidnapping himself."

The police official added that investigators are now trying to determine the motive behind his actions and whether others were involved.

"He was produced in court today as the victim of the kidnapping case. Further steps will follow after he gives his statement and the court issues directives," Chouhan said.

The alleged abduction had earlier sparked widespread discussion after Muhibullah's claim of being rescued with his beard shaved and his body bruised circulated on social media.

Later, during a live session on Facebook hosted by religious figure Ataur Rahman Bikrompuri last night (27 October), Muhibullah's daughter stated over the phone that her father had admitted to his family that he had gone to Panchagarh voluntarily.

Around 2:30am, Bikrompuri went live again, connecting Muhibullah himself by phone.

In the broadcast, he publicly confessed, saying, "I did everything myself. I went to Panchagarh on my own plan, acted out a disappearance, and made the incident viral. So, you all should not exaggerate this matter any further."

Police say the investigation into the reasons behind his actions is ongoing.