Abducted Bangladeshi-born US citizen still traceless

Over two days have passed with a Bangladeshi-born US citizen remaining traceless on being allegedly abducted by some seven to eight miscreants from the capital's Mohakhali flyover.

Mofizul Islam, 55, chairman of Trans Link International, a New York-based money transfer firm, was reportedly abducted on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

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Relatives said he arrived in Bangladesh on January 22 and was bringing together Bangladeshi bankers for a "South Asian Entrepreneur Alliance", scheduled to be held in New York within a few days.

"We have not yet traced his whereabouts...we are trying hard to rescue him," Kafrul Police Station Officer-in-Charge Shikdar Md Shamim told The Daily Star.

Detectives and Rapid Action Battalion are separately working on the abduction case, he said. 

Blocking Mofizul's car with a microbus and a motorcycle around 4:30pm, miscreants asked him to come with them, said a relative, Tanvir Ahmad, quoting Mofizul's driver Imran Ali as saying.

When he denied, they beat him and the driver, forced him into the microbus and fled toward Banani, he said, adding that Mofizul was returning to his residence in Baridhara Park Road from the Motijheel commercial area.

"We came to know about the abduction around 8:30pm from the driver, whose cellphone was also taken away," Tanvir said.

There has been no ransom claims, he said, unable to ascertain whether Mofizul had any previous enmity or was threatened earlier.

Mofizul frequently visited Bangladesh over business purposes every year, said Mofizul's nephew Abul Hossain who filed the abduction case with the police station on Wednesday.

He was supposed to fly back on February 22 to New York where he lives with his family, he added.