At least 46 people, who left the country in the name of "hijrat," remain untraced. On June 3 another four youths, three of whom are employees of an IT company in Banani, went missing in a similar fashion, police said on Thursday.
Though police are yet to know their whereabouts, they are also unaware of the purpose of their running away from home.
Police said three youths along with one of their common friends have run away on the same day and their families have no clue to their whereabouts. Banani police said they are investigating into the complaint, trying to find and book them or at least know where they are and whether they are on way to join any terror groups - like many others in the recent past.
Separate complaints have been filed over their disappearances with Banani Police Station.
At least 33 people, involved in militancy, left their homes over the lastthree years. Of them, 23 went to Syria or Iraq and four of them have been killed there. The Middle-East based terror outfit Islamic State (IS) published photos of their dead bodies at different times. Another four people accused of involvement with Al-Qaeda, disappeared after leaving Dhaka for Malaysia. At least six other people have reportedly left the country but it is not known where they have gone.
The four youths reported missing from Banani are Kamal Hossain, 21, Imam Hossain, 27, Hasan Mahmud, 26, and Tawhidur Rahman, 26. Details about Tawhidur could not be known immediately but police say he was a friend of the other three.
Kamal studied at New Eskaton's Jamia Islamia Darul Ulum Madrasa. Imam and Hasan did their MA in computer science after graduating from Electronics and Electrical Engineering department of the BRAC University.
They joined Intercom Trade International and Telex Ltd company. Police said three separate general diaries had been filed on June 3 and 4 regarding their missing.
Bazlur Rahman, Sub-Inspector of Banani Police Station, said he was investigating two of the GDs and SI Sohel Rana was looking into the other one.
SI Bazlur said Kamal disappeared on the morning of June 3 and the other two went missing in the afternoon the same day. Bazlur termed their disappearances 'mysterious.'
"All three were practicing Muslims. But we are unable to confirm yet whether they left everything behind to join militancy," he further said. "We are trying to find them."
Media report quoted Kamal's maternal uncle Rashid Alam as having said that his nephew lived at Karail Masjid mess. He went out on the morning of June 3 for office and has been traceless since then.
Rashid said Kamal, Imam and Hasan were good friends. They even married in the same area of Chittagong.
Rashid said, "I went to Banani from Mirpur to find out what had happened. I called his friend, Imam, to inquire about my nephew and asked if he had any of Kamal's photographs.
"Around 5:30pm, Imam and Hasan met me at Banani's Chairman Bari area and handed over Kamal's picture. But their mobile phones, too, have been switched off since then. I later learned that the two had also disappeared."
Kamal, hailing from Chandpur's north Matlab upazila, is the eldest of three siblings. A Banani police source said Imam hailed from Tejgaon's Monipuripara. He joined Telex Ltd as a software engineer last September.
Banani police SI Sohel Rana said Hasan lived at a rented flat in Mohakhali's Wireless Gate area. He hailed from Habiganj, where he studied in a madrasa.
"We are investigating how they went off the radar. Their last traced location is Banani and their mobile phones have been switched off since their disappearance," he added.
Four youths went missing together from Banani on December 1 last year. They were Safayet Hossain, Zayen Hossain Khan Pavel, Sujon, and Mehedi Hawlader. Safayet and Pavel studied at North South University.
Unidentified men dropped Mehedi on April 18 from a microbus. Sujon and Pavel were dropped in a similar manner on May 28. The three could not provide information about their abductors.
Care Medical College student Forhad disappeared from Matikata on November 30. On December 5, two other youths, including one Sayeed Anwar Khan, went missing.
