Mufti Muhibullah Miaji, khatib of the T&T Colony Jame Mosque in Tongi, Gazipur, who had claimed to have been abducted, has confessed to staging the incident after police uncovered inconsistencies in his statement through CCTV footage and travel records.
Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) Additional Commissioner for Crime and Operations Mohammad Taherul Haq Chouhan disclosed the information at a press briefing held at GMP headquarters on Tuesday.
Muhibullah had earlier appeared at Tongi Police Station, claiming he had been kidnapped and later rescued in Panchagarh. He even filed a case as the plaintiff in the alleged abduction, the police official said.
According to the briefing, Tongi East Police Station registered the case after receiving a complaint that the 60-year-old cleric had been abducted on the morning of 22 October while out for a walk. The complaint alleged that an ambulance blocked his path near Shilmun Exos Link CNG Filling and Conversion Centre, and that four to five unidentified men forced him into the vehicle, blindfolded him, and physically assaulted him.
He was reportedly rescued by Panchagarh Sadar police after a local resident called the national emergency helpline 999.
However, GMP officials said that after analysing CCTV footage along his route and in other locations, no trace of the alleged ambulance or abductors was found during the reported three-hour window. Police also reviewed video footage from Dhaka bus counters, hotel records in Bogura, bus driver statements, and details of the khatib’s movements in Panchagarh.
Taherul Haq said footage showed the khatib leaving a bus station in Panchagarh late at night and walking alone. Suffering from prostate problems, he stopped to urinate by the roadside and removed some of his clothing due to discomfort.
He later fell asleep on the street with a small padlock chain tied to his foot and eventually woke up at Panchagarh Sadar Hospital. Police say that when confronted with the evidence, Muhibullah admitted he had travelled to Panchagarh on his own.
Describing his actions, he told police, “I went for a walk. It came to my mind that I should keep walking. I cannot say in which direction I went. I got into an auto-rickshaw and got off at Mirer Bazar. After getting off, I felt like going to Joydebpur. I got into a CNG and went to Joydebpur.
“After that, it came to my mind that I should get on a bus. I got on the bus and they dropped me off somewhere. From there, I got on another bus and went to Gabtoli. There, I felt like buying a ticket. It came to my mind that I should go to Panchagarh.”
He further said that upon reaching Panchagarh, he wandered aimlessly before finding a chain. He then decided to relieve himself, during which urine got on his clothes, so he removed them. He laid down in the cold and chained his legs.
“I had no thought process as to why I was doing this; I was just doing whatever came to my mind,” he said, according to police.
Additional Commissioner Chouhan said, “Although he initially tried to tell a different story, after being shown all the evidence, he confessed that he had staged the kidnapping himself.”
The police official added that investigators are now trying to determine the motive behind his actions and whether others were involved.
“He was produced in court today as the victim in the kidnapping case. Further steps will follow after he gives his statement and the court issues directives,” Chouhan said.
