RAB detains youth over involvement in Mohammadpur girl’s disappearance, rescues her from Naogaon
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has detained a youth for his alleged involvement with the disappearance of an 11-year-old girl who reportedly went missing from the Krishi Market area of the capital's Mohammadpur two days ago.
An elite force team of RAB-2 and RAB-5 jointly rescued the girl from the Madhya Para area of Naogaon Sadar at around 3pm today (4 February) where she was spotted earlier.
RAB-5 Company Commander of CPC-3 Joypurhat Additional Superintendent of Police Nazmul Haque confirmed the matter this evening.
"The girl named Arabi Islam Suba is currently in RAB custody. Once her family reaches Naogaon, Suba will be handed over to them," the RAB official said.
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According to RAB, Suba was taken to Naogaon by Mohammad Momin, hailing from Madhya Para. They met on the video platform TikTok.
Momin reportedly works at a clothing store in Bongobazar, Dhaka. He has now been taken into RAB custody.
Earlier on the day, police said the girl was not kidnapped as she "willingly" went to Naogaon with a 19-year-old boy.
Adabor Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) SM Zakaria, quoting the girl's family, had told The Business Standard that Suba may have willingly left with the boy.
The girl had a relationship with him, whom she was seen holding hands with in CCTV footage, OC Zakaria said.
He said Suba's family gave law enforcement agencies the boy's mobile number and efforts were underway to rescue her by tracking the number.
Around the same time, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) sources also said they had traced Suba's location, and she was under the elite forces' digital surveillance.
Sources at RAB-2 also confirmed to TBS that they had traced her location and were trying to obtain details about the boy.
They said RAB and the police got different CCTV footage of the time that Suba went missing from the Krishi Market area.
"In one footage, the girl was seen walking out of a shopping mall [Tokyo Square] in Mohammadpur along with two youths standing on both sides. She looked fine till then, and she went missing after a few moments," said the source.
In the footage, Suba was seen using her phone and behaving and walking around normally with the two youths, which implied that she was not under duress.
In a video that went viral on social media in the last 24 hours, the girl was seen saying, "I'm fine. I will be back to my father."
Earlier today at the RAB office, Suba's father Razib told TBS that they would brief the media once they got her back.
Hours after Suba went missing on Sunday (3 February), her photo and news of her going missing flooded social media.
Razib yesterday said his daughter had arrived in Dhaka a few months back. A Grade VI student in Barishal, Suba came to Dhaka as her mother is currently undergoing cancer treatment.
She was living in her aunt's house in Mohammadpur.
According to her father, she went out with her cousin, who was of a similar age.
When they were crossing a road near Krishi Market, just in front of Prince Bazar, Suba's cousin managed to get across, but the 11-year-old could not. When her cousin looked back, he could not find her anymore.
