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evening [April 10], locals told me that my husband had been detained. I rushed to the Coast Guard pontoon in the Thoda area and saw him being held.”

She claimed eight to 10 men in Coast Guard uniform and six to seven in plainclothes were present on the pontoon. Miraj was taken into a room with tinted windows. About 30 minutes later, a speedboat arrived and carried him towards Harbaria, where a Coast Guard camp is located.

Mukta said she later contacted a local union parishad member, who gave her the Harbaria Coast Guard outpost number. “Someone answered and told me Miraj was detained for interrogation and a case would be filed against him.”

The next morning, she went to the Digraj Coast Guard base. “They asked us to wait. By afternoon, the new duty team told us they knew nothing about Miraj’s detention,” she said, adding that her phone number was later blocked by the coast guards.

“I just want to know where my husband is,” she demanded.

Miraj’s sister Liza Islam said while picking him up, Coast Guard members kept Miraj’s motorbike at a local tea stall owned by Al Amin.

Contacted, Al Amin confirmed the bike was left to him and later taken back by Coast Guard personnel, though he could not recall the dates.

Lieutenant Commander Shamsul Arefin, operation officer of Coast Guard (West Zone, Mongla), categorically denied detaining Miraj.

“Miraj is a wanted person. We are currently looking for him. He is not in our custody. If we had detained him, there would be no reason to hide it,” he told this correspondent over the phone yesterday.

He added Miraj’s name surfaced in a confessional statement by another arrested criminal, Samad, a member of a local gang.

“Samad had mentioned a few other names, two of whom were arrested subsequently,” added the coast guard official.

Mongla Police Station Officer‑in‑Charge Atikur Rahman said, “A GD was filed about Miraj Sheikh’s disappearance. His family members say he is still traceless. We are investigating the matter.”

Asked if Miraj was accused in any criminal case, the OC said he did not know.