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Back from jaws of Rab 'crossfire'

Nabbed as outlaw, released on disclosure of his identity as war hero

STAFF CORRESPONDENT, Rajshahi
Abdus Samad, who, mistakenly identified as outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) leader 'Lal' Samad, had been arrested by Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and later released, told journalists here on Wednesday night that his identity as a freedom fighter saved him narrowly from Rab 'crossfire'.
Samad left Rajshahi city immediately after the interview for an unknown place where he had been hiding as per a Rab direction since
his release from the elite force's custody on July 25. The Rab suspected Bangla Bhai's men may kill him.
"I narrowly escaped death in crossfire only to bear the nightmarish memory for the rest of my life," Samad, 55, told journalists requesting not to reveal the location of the interview.
The Rab members picked up Samad from Naogaon soon after his release from the district jail on July 21 and took him to its Rajshahi office. They interrogated him the
SEE PAGE 19 COL 2 Back from jaws
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whole night but could not gather anything.
"In the early hours next day, they [Rab] blindfolded me with a piece of black cloth and took me to an isolated place near a river. They asked me if I have any last wish," Samad narrated the bone-chilling story, frequently breaking into tears. The place was Godagari, the Rab told him.
"Time stood still at that time. Suddenly an army officer's cell phone rang. A few minutes later, the officer asked me whether I was a freedom fighter. As I said 'yes', they took me back to the Rab office," said Samad.
"As a freedom fighter, I never wanted anything from my country. Even I did not take any allowances for the freedom fighters. Ironically, the Rab members while taking me to Godagari called me an enemy of the country and said I should not be let live," he said.
On July 25, the Rab members handed over Samad to two unknown persons who in a microbus took him to his house in the city. They advised him to hide atleast for a week.
Top PBCP leader 'Lal' Samad, with whom Abdus Samad was mistaken, is a listed criminal in the police book, facing 17 cases.
Engaged in business and agriculture, Abdus Samad claimed that he was neither an outlaw, nor a murderer. His daughters Rumi and Shirin alleged that it was the police who turned Abdus Samad into "Lal Samad".
He was first caught by the joint forces during the Operation Clean Heart in 2001 following "fabricated" cases for murdering three persons of Bagmara upazila. However, the police later submitted charge sheet, dropping his name.
Released in October 2002, he shifted from Bagmara to Rajshahi city. He was again arrested from his business shop in July last year and implicated in a number of murder cases, including the murders of Taherpur municipal chairman Ali Khondokar, BNP leader Abdul Hamid Moru and two others.
In 2002, the police damaged his houses at Bagmara and later in 2004, Bangla Bhai's men demolished his property at Bagmara and named me Lal Samad.
"Nobody wants to rent us a house, no school admits my sons. Now we are about to starve as the lone bread earner of our family is running for life," said Samad's wife Moyful Begum, a mother of three sons and two daughters, in tear-choked voice.