Police in Dhamrai, on the outskirts of Dhaka, have arrested a 60-year-old man after failing to find his son, an alleged Jubo League worker, during a late-night operation at their home.
Mohammad Kolim Uddin, a resident of Bhabanhati village in Balia Union of Dhamrai upazila, was taken into custody after police went to his house at around 12.30am on Saturday night looking for his son, engineer Rifat Ahmed.
According to Kolim Uddin’s wife, Hasina Begum, between 10 and 12 police officers arrived at the family home and knocked on the door. After identifying themselves as police, they were allowed inside. At the time, Hasina, her husband, their daughter and daughter-in-law were at home.
Hasina said the officers initially asked about Rifat. She told them that her son was not at home and that the family had no contact with him because of his political activities. Police then took Kolim Uddin outside and subsequently brought him to the police station.
He was later shown as arrested and sent to court on Sunday, according to his family.
Hasina said her husband was a farmer and had never been involved in politics. She also claimed that there had been no criminal case against him previously. She alleged that he was being subjected to harassment because of his son’s political activities.
“We have no contact with Rifat because of his political involvement,” she said, according to the account provided by the family. “My husband has never been involved in politics.”
Kolim Uddin’s daughter, Happy Akter, also said her brother had been involved in politics but had not returned home since the fall of the Awami League government. She said the family had also lost contact with him.
Happy maintained that her father had never engaged in political activities. She alleged that police took him away after failing to find Rifat and subsequently showed him as arrested in a political case.
Police, however, have given a different account of the circumstances surrounding the arrest.
Dhamrai Police Station Officer-in-Charge Nazmul Huda Khan said Rifat Ahmed was a Jubo League leader and had led a procession a few days earlier. A police team led by the officer-in-charge of the Kaulipara police outpost subsequently conducted the operation at Rifat’s home, he said.
According to the police officer, the entire family was considered supportive of the Awami League. Kolim Uddin was therefore shown as arrested in a pending case, he said.
When asked whether Kolim Uddin had any previous case against him or held any formal position in the Awami League, Nazmul Huda Khan said he had no previous case and was not a party office-bearer.
The officer said Kolim Uddin was identified as an Awami League supporter and that this information formed the basis for showing him arrested in the pending case.
The incident has resulted in conflicting accounts from the family and the police. Kolim Uddin’s relatives maintain that he is a farmer with no political involvement and that his arrest followed the police search for his son. Police, on the other hand, have linked the arrest to the family’s political affiliation and Rifat’s reported activities.
The available account does not provide further details about the pending case in which Kolim Uddin was shown as arrested, including the specific allegations or the identities of other people named in it.
