20-year-old man remains ‘disappeared forcibly’ since August 2023: family

The family of a 20-year-old man today said he has been forcibly disappeared since August 29 last year.

Speaking at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity in the capital, Momtaz Begum, the mother of the 20-year-old Rahmatullah, said her son was picked up at midnight by men in civil clothes on that day.

"My son had been suffering from a fever for eight days. He was lying in my bed. I had poured water over his head to bring the fever down. That is when they came and took him," said Momtaz.

The family's home is in Boronalai village of Dhamrai's Gangutia union.

Rahmatullah was the youngest of three children, while Momtaz's husband died early in their marriage.

She said, "My neighbours said that our house was surrounded by armed men in black uniform. When they were dragging him out, they put him in a minivan while a black Rab (Rapid Action Battalion) vehicle stood by."

Razia, Rahmatullah's sister, claimed that "Rab-4" was written on the vehicle.

Rahmatullah was not involved in politics and had finished high school and was training to be an electrician, Razia said.

Lt Col Mohammad Abdur Rahman, commander of Rab-4, told The Daily Star, "It is an old issue. We are not involved in any such operations. It could be done by other agencies or someone might have been using Rab's name as a cover. There are also incidents of using fake identities, but we can assure that we were not involved in such an operation."