According to Mohammad Hasanul Islam Hasan’s wife, Rokeya Begum, on February 24, 2012, her husband was returning home on his motorbike in Kamarpara area of Dhaka when he hit a Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) vehicle and broke the rearview mirror. Not realizing it was a RAB vehicle, Hasan argued with the people in the car. Rokeya said that apparently the vehicle was vandalized, and RAB filed a case against Hasan and 11 others with the Gobindaganj Police Station of Gaibandha.1
Afraid that they may face retribution, Hasanul, Bozlur Prodhan, and Mintu Prodhan hid out at Shwapon Chairman’s home in Amlichukhai village of Gabtoli in the neighboring Bogra District. But around midnight on March 12, 2012, Rokeya said that men identifying themselves as RAB came to the house and picked up Hasan and the others.2
When their families contacted various police stations and RAB offices, they all denied that any arrest had taken place. After police initially refused to file a general diary, Begum was finally able to do so with the Gobindaganj Police Station on April 3, 2013.3
Mohammad Hasanul Islam Hasan, Mohammad Bozlur Prodhan, and Mohammad Mintu Prodhan are still missing.4
2 Ibid.
3 GD No. 1194, April 3, 2013; Human rights defender interview with Rokeya Begum, Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 21, 2020.
4Human rights defender interview with Rokeya Begum, Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 21, 2020.
