[4] Observers express concern that security forces, including the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)—a paramilitary unit established in 2004 under the BNP government—and local police, are engaged in a campaign of intimidation against the opposition to benefit Sheikh Hasina's government.
"[14] In May 2023, general secretary of BNP Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made a similar allegation, stating, "Ilias Ali was possibly abducted because of his involvement in the movement against the Tipaimukh Dam.
"[15] On 17 April 2024, on a press conference held at the BNP's central office in Naya Paltan to mark the 12th anniversary of Ilias Ali's disappearance, the party's senior joint general secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, made a similar allegation.
That night, after meeting with supporters at Hotel Sheraton (now InterContinental), he mysteriously disappeared along with his personal driver, Ansar Ali, on his way back home from Banani Road No.
[3] The Officer-in-Charge of Banani Police Station, Mamun Ar Rashid, reported that they found an abandoned car in the Mohakhali, Dhaka around midnight.
Upon bringing the car to the police station and examining the documents, they discovered it was the vehicle belonging to prominent BNP leader Ilias Ali.
[18] The day after Ilias Ali went missing, on 18 April, his wife Tahsina Rushdir Luna filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking his return.
The Attorney General's office later informed The Daily Star that the agencies, in their respective reports, asserted that BNP leader Ilias Ali was not in their custody and that they had neither detained nor apprehended him.
[21] Following his disappearance, joint operations were conducted by RAB and police in various locations, including Pubail in Gazipur, but Ilias Ali was not found.
In Bishwanath, Sylhet, Ilias Ali's birthplace, a protest demanding his return led to a three-way clash occurred between the police, Awami League, and BNP supporters.
As a result, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Co-operatives ordered the temporary suspension of the chairmen of seven Union Parishad of Bishwanath Upazila, as they were named in the charges related to the incident.
[25][26][27] During the protests over Ilias Ali's disappearance, many senior BNP leaders, including the then-Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, were imprisoned.
Amnesty International called on the Bangladesh government to conduct an independent investigation into the recent disappearances of several individuals, including Ilias Ali, and the deaths of protesters during subsequent clashes.
They highlighted the increasing number of enforced disappearances of opposition leaders and political activists in Bangladesh, calling on the government to immediately initiate an independent and impartial investigation.