3 days on, cops yet to rescue abducted man

Three days on, police have yet to rescue a man abducted in Uttara.

His bodyguard was critically injured during the abduction.

The incident occurred on Road-12 in Sector-14 of Uttara around 7:00pm on Friday.

The abducted man remains unidentified, as no family members have come forward or filed a complaint. Law enforcement agencies have yet to trace his family members as well.

The bodyguard, Mahbub Alam, 57, a retired army personnel, is currently undergoing treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH).

Doctors say he has suffered a critical head injury.

Mahbub’s son Abdullah Azam filed a case with Uttara West Police Station on Saturday.

Uttara West Police Station Officer-in-Charge Kazi Rafiq told The Daily Star that police visited the scene and collected CCTV footage. “We are trying to rescue the abducted man.”

According to the case statement, Mahbub Alam lived on Road-13/C in Sector-6 under the Uttara East Police Station. He was employed through a security services company and had a 12-gauge shotgun licensed to his name.

On Friday around 3:00pm, Mahbub left his residence. Around 7:00pm, while he was standing in front of a house on Road-12 of Sector-14, a white Toyota Land Cruiser Prado arrived, followed by a Nissan X-Trail and a motorcycle.

As Mahbub opened the Prado’s door to let a person get down, four people from the X-Trail and two from the motorcycle got out and attacked him.

One assailant struck Mahbub on the head with a stick, knocking him to the ground, while another hit him on the left side of the jaw with Mahbub’s own shotgun, fracturing his jaw.

The attackers then took Mahbub’s licensed shotgun and forcibly put the man, who had got down from the Prado, into the X-Trail.

Locals alerted police, who took Mahbub to Uttara Adhunik Medical College Hospital. He was subsequently referred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and later admitted to CMH.

Talking to The Daily Star, Azam said his father had purchased the shotgun after retiring from the army with permission from the deputy commissioner.

“He worked as a protocol officer for a security company, but recently, on weekends, he also worked as a bodyguard,” he said.

“I was not aware of my father having any enemies. However, the man whom my father was guarding may have had enemies... ,” he added.

An official of the Uttara police division, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Daily Star that the abducted man, assumed to be one Mehedi, had allegedly borrowed money from several people and failed to repay.

“To ensure his personal safety, he had hired Mahbub. The Prado was rented by him,” the official said.

He suspected that those seeking repayment may have abducted him.

When contacted, OC Kazi Rafiq said no complaint has yet been lodged by or on behalf of the abducted man.

Meanwhile, Rab-1 Commanding Officer Lt Col Ashikur Rahman told The Daily Star that they recovered Mahbub’s shotgun along with four shells during a drive in the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area early yesterday.

DMP Additional Commissioner SN Nazrul Islam said updates about the case would be shared in a press briefing.