Three BNP men sent to jail over abduction of army officer

A Barishal court today (25 March) sent three arrested BNP men to jail in a case filed over the alleged abduction of an army personnel.

The arrestees are Hizla upazila BNP's Member Secretary Dewan Md Monir Hossain, Barishal BNP's Joint Secretary Noor Hossain Sujan and Hizla upazila Swechhasebak Dal member Imran Khandker, said police.

The name of the reportedly kidnapped army member is Md Zafar, according to the statement of a case filed over the incident by rhe victim's maternal uncle, Abdul Matin Kazi, against 12 leaders and activists of BNP and its affiliates with the Kotwali Model Police Station.

"The army handed over three people detained from the Richmart Hotel in the BIWTC building in the city's Launchghat area to the police station on Tuesday. When they were presented before the court on the basis of arrests in the case filed in this incident, the judge ordered them to be sent to jail," Kotowali Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mizanur Rahman told The Business Standard.

"The army member came to Barishal with his uncle to submit a tender. He is not stationed in Barishal. He came to drop a tender. No one here knows him," Superintendent of Barishal Metropolitan Police, Shaifqul Islam, earlier told TBS,

The police official, however, did not mention the kidnapping. Instead, he said a "problem occurred" during the tender submission.

Action will be taken against those involved, he added.

According to the case statement, at around 1:30am yesterday (24 March), Army member Zafar and his uncle Matin went to submit a tender for Balu Mahal to the DC office at Ward-10 under the Kotwali Model Police Station when the accused threatened them over submitting the tender and an argument followed.

At one point, the plaintiff, along with his nephew Zafar, got out of there and reached a nearby road where the defendants blocked their way and attacked them. 

When the plaintiff and his companions started running for their lives, the accused kidnapped the army personnel, adds the case statement. 

"We informed the Barisal Army Camp about the matter. Later, with the help of the Army, we were able to find out that the defendants kidnapped Witness No-1 [Zafar] and detained him inside Room-310 of the Richmart Residential Hotel adjacent to the Barisal Launch Ghat," the plaintiff Matin alleged in the case statement.

"When my nephew, Witness No-1, introduced himself as a Lance Corporal of the Army and showed his ID card, the defendants tore his ID card and falsely introduced themselves as senior officers of the army, tied my nephew's hands and feet, beat him up indiscriminately, and inflicted bruises on various parts of his body," added Matin.

He further alleged that the accused also looted a gold chain worth Tk1.20 lakh, an iPhone worth Tk1.15 lakh, Tk15,000 cash, and various documents from Zafar.

"The defendants beat him up and threatened him that if he did not withdraw the tender, they would kill him. The defendants left my nephew in the hotel room after threatening him with murder and injury," said Matin.