SHAHEEN MOLLAH

Abu Jafar’s family was sure that he had been living in the Maldives for the last three years. He last visited Bangladesh in 2019 and left home saying he was going to the Maldives.

Each time they contacted Jafar, he gave them the same answer: he was in the country on the Indian Ocean.

They knew something was wrong only when Rab officials visited Jafar’s house in Faridpur’s Charbhadrasan two months back and asked about him.

On January 30, Jafar’s brother-in-law Md Shahjahan identified him in a video released by Rab on January 24. Jafar was seen cooking while some others were receiving firearms training.

Rab got the video from the mobile phone of Masikur Rahman alias Ranbir, the military commander of banned outfit Jama’atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya, who was arrested with an associate in Cox’s Bazar on January 23.

This correspondent talked to at least nine other families that have identified their missing relatives in the video.

Abul Kalam, father of Raihan who went missing 15 months ago, is one of them.

He told The Daily Star that he contacted Rab on January 27 seeing his son in the video sent by a relative. Before this, some Rab members came to his house two months back and took information about Raihan.

Kalam, a resident of Dhaka’s Kamrangirchar area, said his son had gone to Dubai in 2018 as a worker.