Salahuddin joins in shooting on enforced disappearances
Staff Reporter :
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed has taken part in the filming of a government-commissioned documentary on enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings at the Tamabil border in Sylhet. After arriving in Sylhet on a Saturday morning flight, Salahuddin visited the Tamabil border area, where he later inspected the very route through which he said he had been taken to India after being abducted. According to Salahuddin, he was taken to Shillong, India, through this route on the evening of May 10, 2015.
The documentary, being produced under the Office of the Chief Adviser, focuses on incidents of enforced disappearances and killings that took place during the Awami League government’s tenure. Salahuddin is currently at the Tamabil border to take part in the filming of his segment.
It was on March 10, 2015, that Salahuddin Ahmed went missing. After 63 days, he was found in Shillong, India. Because of legal complications and court proceedings there, he remained in Shillong for nearly nine years. His return became possible after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government on August 5, and he was issued a travel pass on August 6. He finally returned to Bangladesh on August 11.
During the Awami League government, a five-member commission was formed, led by retired High Court Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury, to investigate cases of enforced disappearances allegedly committed by law enforcement agencies.
According to a Cabinet Division notification, the commission was tasked with locating and investigating individuals allegedly subjected to enforced disappearance by members of police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Special Branch (SB), Detective Branch (DB), Ansar Battalion, National Security Intelligence (NSI), Armed Forces, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), and Coast Guard, among other law enforcement or security agencies.
Ten months after returning to Bangladesh, on June 3, Salahuddin Ahmed filed a formal complaint with the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of the International Crimes Tribunal over his abduction. The complaint named former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and seven others as accused. He personally submitted the complaint at the Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
Meanwhile, upon his arrival at Sylhet Airport on Saturday morning, Salahuddin Ahmed was received by local BNP leaders, including the district BNP president, general secretary, and several top leaders from various affiliated organizations.
It should be noted that Salahuddin Ahmed, then the BNP’s Joint Secretary General, went missing on March 10, 2015, at night. Two months later, his wife received a phone call from him from a hospital in the Indian state of Meghalaya, which revealed his whereabouts.
His family and the BNP had alleged that Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies had picked him up from his residence. However, the Awami League government consistently denied the allegation, saying it had no knowledge of Salahuddin Ahmed’s whereabouts.