Dhaka, Aug 30 (V7N): In April 2022, BUBT student Rifat Ahmed Chowdhury was allegedly abducted from Mirpur and held captive for over three months at the Detective Branch office in the capital. He was later falsely accused in a case and sentenced to jail.

Rifat, a student at the Bangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT), shared his experience of enforced disappearance today at the National Press Club during an event marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

"I was forcibly taken from in front of Sony Cinema Hall in Mirpur on April 11, 2022. Unidentified individuals put me in a black microbus and later confined me in a room at the Detective Branch office for 97 days," Rifat recounted during the event organized by the Council Against Injustice (CAI).

At the time of his abduction, Rifat was a second-year student at BUBT. He described the inhumane conditions he endured, saying, "During this period, I was fed extremely unhygienic food and subjected to mental torture."

After being held for 97 days, Rifat was shown as arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act by Jatrabari police on July 16. The following day, he was produced in court and subsequently sentenced to jail. Initially, he was detained at Keraniganj Jail and later transferred to Kashimpur Jail. He was eventually released on bail after spending 11 months in prison.

During the event, ten other students and professionals, including Sakib Bin Kamal, shared similar stories of enforced disappearances. The event was also addressed by Barrister Sarwar Hossain, poet Muhib Khan, and CAI Convener Sher Muhammad Saeed.

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