UPDF leader Michael Chakma returns home five years after disappearance

United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) leader Michael Chakma, who "went missing" in April 2019, has returned home, sources confirmed to The Business Standard.

He was held captive at "Aynaghor" in Dhaka, Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, the lawyer who had filed a habeas corpus petition seeking Michael's whereabouts, said on Wednesday (7 August).

"Aynaghor" is the nickname of the secret detention centre run by Director General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI).

Michael's family members and UPDF officials said he was left blindfolded at a place in Chattogram on Wednesday morning by unidentified men.

"Before dropping him off, his relatives were informed over the phone by an unidentified man to come to receive him," a source said.

"He is now sick and is unwell to speak," Barrister Barua told The Business Standard, citing one of Michael's friends who received him in the morning.

Michael went missing while he was on his way to Dhaka from Kanchpur in Narayanganj on 9 April 2019. 

The United Workers Democratic Front, Greater Chittagong Pahari Chhatra Parishad, Hill Women's Federation and Democratic Youth Forum and other rights organisations were demanding his release since his enforced disappearance.

UPDF Central Vice President Nutan Kumar Chakma in a press release said Michael Chakma was taken and imprisoned for more than 5 years on the orders of the fascist Awami League government.

He demanded justice for those involved in this disappearance.

Along with Michael, PCJSS activist Mayadhab Chakma, 42, was picked up by security forces from Chattogram a month before Michael. His whereabouts are still unknown.

Michael Chakma is an indigenous rights activist and an organiser spokesperson for the UPDF, as well as central general secretary of the United Workers' Democratic Front, the workers' wings of Chattogram Hill tracts-based political party.