The Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police has arrested former Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Fazlur Rahman for his alleged involvement in the high-profile 2012 abduction of Sukharanjan Bali from the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) premises.

Bali had arrived at the tribunal at the time to testify as a defence witness in a crimes against humanity case against the late Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee.

DB Additional Commissioner Shafiqul Islam on Friday confirmed the operation, stating that Fazlur was apprehended from his residence in Dhaka on Thursday night.

Sukharanjan, a carpenter hailing from Umedpur village in the Zianagar upazila of Pirojpur, was a officially listed defence witness for Sayedee.

According to his account, law enforcement agencies picked him up on November 5, 2012, directly from the tribunal premises while he was being escorted by defence lawyers to give his testimony.

Sukharanjan alleged that his abductors blindfolded him, moved him across various secret locations, and subjected him to torture for two months before ultimately handing him over to the Indian Border Security Force (BSF).

He further detailed that he was initially taken to a BSF camp at Boikari Bazar in West Bengal and subsequently sent to Bashirhat Jail, where he spent 22 days. Following that, he was shifted to Dumdum Jail, where he remained confined for five years.

Decades after the ordeal, Sukharanjan filed a formal complaint with the ICT on August 21, 2025, accusing 32 individuals in connection with the abduction, including ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

With Inputs from UNB