Bangladesh's disappeared: activist found on bus claims he was latest target

A Bangladesh government critic who alleges he was the latest in a wave of activists and opposition figures to be abducted says he will not be silenced by the ordeal and will continue to campaign against human rights abuses.

Farhad Mazhar, a poet and social activist, claims he was forced into a minibus by three men while walking near his home in Dhaka last week. He was found about 16 hours later in a town more than 120 miles (200km) from the Bangladesh capital.

News that Mazhar had gone missing was widely reported last Monday amid growing international concern, including from the United Nations, about the number of forced disappearances in Bangladesh, which human rights groups say are mostly perpetrated by the country’s security services.

His interview with the Guardian from his hospital bed in Dhaka is the first time an alleged abductee in Bangladesh has spoken publicly to domestic or foreign media.

“They used some harsh language, took away my mobile and blindfolded me,” he recalled. “They used their knees to keep me pinned down on the floor of the minibus.”