Dhaka Times Report. Allegations of disappearance have been raised against RAB again. The family of Shah Alif Prince, a third-year student of Physics Department of Government Titumir College in the capital, has been brutally tortured by the RAB. RAB released him after 44 days of detention with various promises.
The human rights organization "Adhikar" informed that this is not only a case of detention and torture, but according to international conventions it is a case of disappearance. They also demanded to ensure the safety of the Prince.
According to Adhikar, there are clear allegations that Shah Alif Prince was abducted by state agents and law enforcement forces, but the RAB has denied this and has remained silent on the 44-day detention and torture. Prince is saved from going 'missing' forever, but the 'rights' are very concerned about his safety. Prince was tortured in hiding for 44 days. Adhikar has appealed to the National Human Rights Commission to take the matter into consideration. The government's position against extrajudicial killings, torture and impunity at the United Nations Human Rights Council has already been proven futile, as the country's citizens are being disappeared at an alarming rate, the rights group said.
According to Adhikar, apart from studies, Prince supported the family financially by working at the customer service of the mobile phone company Airtel in the capital's Elephant Road. After this incident, going there was stopped. Shah Alif Prince (24), son of astrologer Shahjahan Ali and Fahima Khatun, resident of Building No. 1, Road No. 13, Nabinagar Housing, Mohammadpur. On February 25, around 7:30 pm, he was picked up by members of RAB-2 CPC 3 in plain clothes from Shyamoli Shahi Masjid area. His relatives told Adhikar that RAB members brutally tortured him after hiding him for a long month and 14 days. On April 10, RAB 5 members handed Prince over to Boalia Model Police Station.
It is alleged that the Prince recruited and campaigned for the banned organization Hizb ut Tahrir. He was released on bail from the court on April 16. Prince told Adhikari that on the way back home on the evening of February 25, some people wearing white clothes from Shyamoli Shahi Mosque area identified themselves as RAB members and told him that there is a case against him under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Saying this, they handcuffed him and took him to Mohammadpur Shia Mosque camp of RAB 2. They took the mobile phone from him there. Later he was asked about the activities of the banned organization Hizb ut Tahrir and his association with the organization. RAB members blindfolded him with a black cloth when he said that he had no affiliation with this organization. Beating him with a stick throughout the night, he demanded information about Hizb ut Tahrir. When his blindfold was removed in the early morning, he requested to inform his family that he was in RAB custody. The RAB members became more angry and increased the level of torture on him.
Prince told Adhikari that there is no torture that has not been done to him. The RAB members warned him that if he told anyone about the torture during his 44-day RAB custody, he would be crippled like Limon of Jhalkathi district.
Prince also said that the next day, February 26, around 7 am, he was blindfolded and picked up in a car. The car stopped after a while. From there he took it a little further and untied his blindfold. There he found a dimly lit room and a toilet. He thought it was another RAB camp. There, sometimes during the day and sometimes at night, RAB members would come and take him out to another room and interrogate him about the activities of Hizb ut Tahrir and its leaders and activists. He was beaten if he said he knew nothing. While staying in that room day after day, he got sick several times. On April 9 at approximately 12 noon, a RAB member blindfolded him with a black cloth. He then asked him where he was being taken. From there he was taken in a car to an undisclosed location and photographed. Later again picked up in another car. It continued for several hours. In the evening the car stopped at another place. He was taken out of the car and taken to a building. On April 10, around 3 pm, a RAB member in white clothes asked him, 'Prince, will you stay like this for the rest of your life, or will you return to a free life. You have to do what we say if you want to be freed. You will be released through a legal process. Think about it and let me know'. When he agreed to accept all the conditions of the RAB members, he was taken to a place around 4 pm and dropped from the car with a bag full of documents on his shoulder. By looking at the roadside signboard, you can understand that the area is Talaimari of Motihar police station in Rajshahi district. After some time two other RAB members went there and searched his bag and took out some documents of Hizb ut Tahrir from inside the bag. Then they produced two witnesses and signed that they were members of Hizb ut Tahrir. From there, he was taken to RAB 5's office, stood in front of the table and took pictures, then took him to Motihar police station. Later, a policeman there told him that DAD AKM Mizanur Rahman of Railway Colony Camp of RAB 5 filed a case against him on April 10 at Boalia Model Police Station under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The policemen sent him to court around 4 pm with a seven-day remand. The court did not grant remand and sent him to Rajshahi Central Jail. Prince was released on bail from the Rajshahi Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court on April 16. Alif's father Shahjahan Ali (56) is a freedom fighter. In 1971, he participated in the war in Sector 9 for the country's independence. Prince's relatives filed a general diary at the New Market police station on February 26 about Prince's disappearance. Later, on the advice of the police, they also filed a general diary at Mohammadpur police station and filed a GD stating that Alif was missing. Data source: Dainik Yugantar.
The real mystery needs to be found out by investigating the issues. Otherwise, experts believe that after the disappearance of BNP leader Ilyas Ali and his driver in recent times, no one will be exempted from the allegations of disappearance that are being made against the administration.
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