DB: 6 protest coordinators to return to their families soon

The six quota reform protest coordinators, who have been in the custody of the Detective Branch (DB) of police for several days, will be handed over to their families soon.

DB chief Additional Commissioner Harunor Rashid said this during a press conference on Monday.

On Sunday, the DB official asked families not to worry about the coordinators, who were taken into DB custody for security reasons.

“We have taken the coordinators into custody for their safety. We assure their families that there is no reason to worry. We are ensuring their security, and their families should remain reassured,” the DB officials said.

Addressing allegations of mistreatment in DB custody, Harun dismissed such claims, saying: “There are many rumours spreading on Facebook, including false claims about me fleeing the country. There is no reason to believe such rumours. Those spreading these rumours aim to gain views and make money. We have not mistreated those in our custody.”

So far, six coordinators have been brought to DB's custody for security reasons.

However, family members of Arif Sohel, another quota reform movement coordinator at Jahangirnagar University unit, claimed that he was allegedly picked up by plainclothes law enforcers in Dhaka early Sunday.

On Friday afternoon, DB officials took three coordinators, Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud and Abu Baker Majumder, into their custody from the capital's Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital.

On Saturday evening, DB officials took custody of two more coordinators, Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah.

On Sunday afternoon, another coordinator, Nusrat Islam, was taken into DB custody from a relative's house in Mirpur. 

Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud had earlier alleged that they were abducted and tortured.