Miscreants kidnap businessman from car in N\\\'ganj

NARAYANGANJ, Apr 16: Armed miscreants kidnapped a readymade garments businessman on gun point in broad daylight on Wednesday from Dhaka-Narayanganj link road under Fatullah thana in Narayanganj. The victim was identified as Abu Bakar Siddiqui, 47, managing director of Hamid Fashion at Fatullah.

Police said that Siddiqui was going to Dhaka by his own private car. When he reached at Bhuiyan filling station of link road around 3.0 pm, a Hi-ace  microbus rammed into his vehicle. Then seven to eight armed criminals picked up Mr Siddiqui and left for Dhaka with the microbus.

Officer-in-charge of Fatullah thana Md Akter Hossain admitted the incident and said police conducting drives to rescue the kidnapped businessman.

Bdnews24.com adds: "Both Siddiqui and his driver Ripon got down to see the damage when the microbus hit the car. Then the miscreants jumped off the microbus and hit Ripon on his head with a pistol and smeared pepper over his eyes," said Syed Ahmed Sourav, a lawyer with BELA.

Iqbal Kabir, another lawyer with BELA, said they rushed to the spot after Ripon informed them about the incident.

Mr Siddiqui is the husband of Rizwana Hasan, executive director of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) and winner of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award.

Rizwana is vocal against damages caused to the environment. The motive behind her husband's abduction is yet to be known.

BELA says the state minister for home, inspector general of police and the director general of RAB have been informed about Siddiqui'e abduction.

State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan has directed members of law-enforcement agencies to trace out Abu Bakar Siddiqui.

He also asked them to find out why these incidents are happening and who are behind this.