‘Missing’ DIIT student Masrur arrested, says DB; brother detained before press conference on ‘disappearance’

Masrur Hasan, a student of Daffodil Institute of IT (DIIT), who has been missing for five days, is currently under the custody of the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), officials have said.

Besides, Masrur’s brother Mehedi Hasan has been detained today before a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity at Segunbagicha about the ‘disappearance’ of Masrur, DB Lalbagh Zone’s Additional Deputy Commissioner Arafat Lenin told The Business Standard today (30 July).

However, Masrur’s family and eyewitnesses said his father Abul Hashem was also picked up alongside Mehedi.

When asked about the reason for arresting Masrur and Mehedi, Arafat Lenin asked TBS to contact DB Lalbagh Zone Deputy Commissioner Moshiur Rahman over the matter.\

When contacted, Moshiur said, “Masrur and another person Muaz have been arrested for beating policemen and businessmen to death under the pretext of the quota reform movement.”

“Both of them were arrested on the basis of evidence,” he added.

He, however, did not clarify the arrests of Mehedi Hasan and Abul Hashem.

Meanwhile, before being ‘picked up’ by DB men, Mehedi and Hashem handed over a written statement to journalists present on the spot.

In the statement, they wrote, “On 25 July, after Fajr prayers in Demra Barabhanga, some unknown persons identifying as DB men, blindfolded Masrur and took him away from the house of a close relative.

“Later, some members of the police raided the house of a relative [Masrur’s uncle]. The uncle, his two teenage children and a nephew were severely beaten up because they had sheltered Masrur at home. After questioning, they were taken to Demra Police Station.”

At the time, according to the statement, police had said that they did not find Masrur and asked his family members to produce him before the police.

“Otherwise, the bodies of those detained will be sent home,” the statement alleged.

Masrur’s uncle and the other relatives were produced before the CMM court in Dhaka, where the court sent them to jail. 

“Yet, there was no clue on Masrur’s whereabouts in the police station” reads the statement.

“He has not been produced in a court till today [30 July]. Even after contacting all the nearby police stations, no trace of him was found. The family has no specific information on his whereabouts and condition.”