Missing B'baria by-polls candidate Asif returns home

Expelled BNP leader Abu Asif Ahmed, who was reportedly missing for six days, returned home today.

Earlier today, police claimed that Asif, who was an independent candidate in Brahmanbaria-2 by-polls, was staying in his Bashundhara residence in Dhaka. 

"When the election came around, I felt too much pressure. Now that it's over, I have come back home. No one intimidated me. I left on my own," Asif said while talking to reporters at his residence on Thursday (2 January).

Asif did not, however, specify what exactly drove him to disappear from the public eye or the kind of pressure he had felt. 

His wife Meherun Nisa Meherin said Asif had been feeling quite agitated for a few days before he disappeared.

"He is a bit unwell now due to mental stress. Since I got him back, I have no more complaints," she added.

Asif went missing on 27 January. Afterwards, police got their hands on a recording of a phone call between Asif's wife Meherin and their caretaker, which revealed that he was not missing and rather went into a planned hiding.

Abu Asif Ahmed is the former president of Ashuganj Upazila unit BNP and the former chairman of Upazila Parishad.

In the Brahmanbaria-2 by-poll, he was the main opponent of the expelled leader of BNP and five-time Member of Parliament, Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan.

On 31 January, Asif Ahmed's wife Meherun Nisa Meherin submitted a written letter to the Deputy Commissioner of Brahmanbaria and the returning officer of the by-election for tracing the missing independent candidate of Brahmanbaria-2 by-polls. A general diary was filed by the family on the same day.

The by-election of Brahmanbaria-2 (Sarail and Ashuganj) constituencies was held on Wednesday. Abdus Sattar Bhuiya, the resigned member of Parliament and former BNP leader, won the election again. He got 44,916 votes under the banana symbol. And Abu Asif got 3,269 votes under the car symbol.