A prominent Bangladeshi lawyer who fought the state’s case in a high-profile murder trial against Muslim extremists has disappeared, police said yesterday, with grave fears for his safety.
Ratish Chandra Bhowmik, a respected prosecutor and champion of minority rights, has not been seen since he left his home in Rangpur early on Friday morning.
His disappearance came two weeks after seven militants from the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were sentenced to death for murdering the caretaker of a Sufi shrine in November 2015.
Bhowmik led the case that saw nearly a dozen hardliners from the homegrown group convicted for killing the caretaker that they considered a heretic.
Lawyers in the northern city have staged protests calling for information about their colleague.
“We are concerned and worried,” said Abdul Malek, a lawyer who represented the state with Bhowmik in the trial.
Bhowmik, a Hindu and leading cultural activist, also led the state’s prosecution against five JMB extremists sentenced to death for the murder of 66-year-old Japanese farmer Hoshi Kunio in 2015.
Rangpur regional police chief Khandaker Golam Faruque said that Bhowmik had refused the offer of an armed escort during the high-profile trials.
“There was no threat against him. His family filed a complaint about his disappearance on Friday night,” Faruque said.
JMB has been blamed for a wave of attacks on religious minorities, atheist bloggers and foreigners in recent years.
In July 2016, suspected JMB militants stormed a Dhaka cafe and massacred 22 people, including 18 foreigners.
Bangladesh has been waging a campaign against JMB and other homegrown outfits in the wake of the attacks.
Security forces have shot dead more than 70 alleged militants in a crackdown since the cafe assault.
Hundreds of suspected extremists have also been arrested.
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