Ruet BCL leader picked up by Rab 'impersonators'

A leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League at the Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (Ruet) was kidnapped from his home early Thursday by some plainclothes people, who identified themselves as members of the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab).

Saifuzzaman Sohag, a fourth-year student of mechanical engineering, and information and research affairs secretary of Ruet unit of BCL, was taken away by some 15 unknown people, but both local police and Rab said they did not arrest him, said his parents.

Sohag's father Akkas-uzzaman told a press conference at the Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industries yesterday that the plainclothes men arrived in a white microbus and stormed their house in Rajshahi city around 3:00am on Thursday.

"They surrounded us and checked into the laptop of Sohag," he said, adding that they also took away Sohag's laptop and camera and told to look for him at the local Rajpara Police Station in the morning.

The victim's mother, Shirin Jaman, said the persons inquired whether Sohag had a relationship with any female student of Ruet.

She said Sohag was married and his wife studied at Dhaka Medical College, adding that after the raid, the gold ornaments of Sohag's wife went missing from the house.

The parents demanded that their son be presented before court if guilty of any crime.

Mahmudur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Rajpara Police Station, told The Daily Star that Sohag's father filed a general diary (GD). "We could not trace his whereabouts yet," he said.

Maj M Abdus Salam, deputy commanding officer of Rab-5 in Rajshahi, said Sohag's father also filed a complaint with Rab.

The officials said their forces did not arrest Sohag.