World-renowned expert on Islamist extremism missing in Bangladesh amid spike in disappearances
Rights groups in Bangladesh said Mubashar Hasan’s disappearance was the ninth high-profile case since July, with opposition political figures, a businessman and journalists among others to vanish
A Bangladeshi professor internationally respected for his work on Islamic extremism has gone missing, police said Thursday, with activists fearing the worst amid a spate of disappearances in recent months.
Mubashar Hasan, an assistant professor of political science at Bangladesh’s North South University (NSU), has not been seen since Tuesday afternoon, his family said.
“We are very concerned. We hope law enforcement agencies will find him and return him to us,” his uncle Monzur Hossain said.
Hossain said his nephew, a former journalist, had become increasingly concerned about his safety just before his disappearance.
Hasan had installed CCTV cameras around his home just last week after an unidentified man paid him a visit at home, his uncle said.
Police said Hasan’s mobile phone was switched off early Tuesday evening after the prominent professor of political Islam attended a conference.
“We are trying our best to find him. There is no shortage of sincerity on our part,” Anwar Hossain, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said.