Missing Hefazat leader Azizul arrested from Hathazari
"After the meeting, he and a man from the port city were at the Hathazari bus stand area in the evening. They have not been seen since then"
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Sunday night arrested Azizul Haque Islamabadi, central organising secretary of Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, who was reportedly missing since Sunday.
RAB in a joint drive with Police's detective branch (DB) launched a drive and arrested Azizul Haque from Chattogram's Hathazari area in connection with Hefazat's clashes across the country.
Joint Commissioner of DB police Mahbubur Rahman confirmed the matter to The Business Standard.
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Earlier, Mir Idris, central joint-organising secretary, told The Business Standard that Azizul could not be traced since he left for Chattogram after attending a meeting at Hathazari Madrasa.
"After the meeting, he and a man from the port city were at the Hathazari bus stand area in the evening. They have not been seen since then. We have not been able to know his whereabouts even after being in touch with police and other law enforcement agencies till late at night," he said.
Islamabadi's younger brother, Md Irfan told TBS that the Hefazat leader's mobile phone remained switched off since he went missing, but around 3am it was active for a while. But no one answered the phone when they called.
"A Madrasa student was with him. His mobile phone was also found switched off. We heard a black microbus picked them up from Hathazari," Irfan claimed, adding, "My brother before he went missing told me on the phone that he had left Hathazari for the city."
Even after 18 hours of their disappearance law enforcement agencies have not been able to find any clue, said Irfan.
Chattogram Additional Superintendent of Police (South) Afruzul Haque Tutul told The Business Standard, "We did not know about the matter. So far no complaint has been lodged in this regard."
The party's central publicity secretary Zakaria Noman Faizi said: "The law enforcement is being contacted and we are thinking of making a General Diary at the police station by the afternoon."
Idris said that he got to know that another leader, Mufti Ilyas Hamidi, central joint-finance secretary of Hefazat-e-Islam, had been detained by RAB from Madanpur in Narayanganj on his way to Dhaka after a meeting.
Besides, five leaders and activists of Hefazat-e-Islam have been arrested from Hathazari so far. However, no official statement has been received from law enforcement agencies in this regard.
