On August 21, 2016, in Bangladesh, Barrister Ahmed Bin Quasem Arman was spending a normal day when he was arrested from his home in Mirpur, Dhaka. Two days later, former Brigadier General Abdullah Al-Aman Azmi was taken by law enforcement officials on charges of crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. Both individuals ended up in a secret jail called 'Ayna Ghar' run by Sheikh Hasina Wajid's government.
Ayna Ghar is essentially a place of terror. Those detained and released from there rarely speak about what they experienced.
According to a report by "Daily Observer Bangladesh," both Arman and Azmi were kept in the worst conditions for eight years without any trial, and were released on August 6, 2024, after the fall of Hasina Wajid's government.
Hasina's government, which fell after her flight from the country on August 5, is now under scrutiny for its mysterious detention center, "Ayna Ghar."
Sheikh Hasina Wajid's government was known for making people disappear suddenly and treating political opponents harshly.
Reports indicate that there are 23 other secret detention centers besides Ayna Ghar, some of which are also in Dhaka. One such mysterious place is Ayna Ghar in Dhaka Cantonment.
Ayna Ghar is allegedly run by Bangladesh's military intelligence agency, the "Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI)."
It is believed that not only political prisoners but also extremists were detained there.
According to a 2024 Human Rights Watch report, Bangladeshi forces have forcibly disappeared more than 600 people since 2009, the same year Sheikh Hasina came to power. Hasina Wajid's government even refused to seek UN assistance for investigating enforced disappearances.
Investigations into allegations of torture in Bangladesh are rare. Over 100 people are still missing.
In 2022, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that the party's acting chairman and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's son Tarique Rahman was also a victim of Ayna Ghar. Tarique Rahman, who later moved to London, is planning to return to Bangladesh after his mother's release.
According to the Bangladeshi newspaper "Prothom Alo," 'Those who were to be killed were taken to the torture cells of this Ayna Ghar, and those who were to be kept alive were subjected to years of torture and imprisonment here.'
When the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, Gwyn Lewis, visited the DGFI headquarters and asked about Ayna Ghar, she was told that Ayna Ghar did not exist, according to a report by The Business Standard of Bangladesh.
Sheikh Muhammad Saleem was at his car repair shop when he was abducted following a phone call. He was also taken to Ayna Ghar. Hussain Rahman was an award-winning military officer who was detained there after years of service.
Both Sheikh Saleem and Hussain Rahman gave interviews to Netra News.
Sheikh Saleem said that their cells had no windows, a high ceiling with only a ray of light, loud noise, and large exhaust fans. The noise of these fans drowned out every other sound in the room. They could feel vibrations inside the building, indicating a nearby airport or airbase.
He mentioned that previous prisoners had written 'DGFI' on the cell walls.
Sheikh Saleem told Netra News, 'I can't even imagine how many people were imprisoned here before me.'
People wrote, 'DGFI brought me here' or 'DGFI took them from their home.'
According to him, some inscriptions were more emotional than others.
One prisoner wrote, "Please tell my family not to stop searching for me and tell them the government brought me here."
Sheikh Saleem was not given the respect afforded to other honorable prisoners. He was tortured and beaten.
He told Netra News, 'One day, they beat me severely and then took me to a different cell.'
Saleem was mistakenly identified and soon released. He then moved to Malaysia.
Where is the mysterious Ayna Ghar located?
Similarly, Hussain Rahman was a former lieutenant colonel in the Bangladeshi army and a recipient of the prestigious military bravery award 'Bir Protik.' He was a commander of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a notorious paramilitary group sanctioned by the United States for human rights violations.
Hussain Rahman was involved in anti-militancy operations, but in 2012 he was dismissed on charges of being involved with militants.
However, he denied these allegations in an interview with Netra News.
He was first abducted in 2011 and then taken to Ayna Ghar in 2018. When he peeked through the exhaust fan of the toilet, he recognized the location of Ayna Ghar.
As a former military officer, he was familiar with the Dhaka Cantonment area.
In 2018, he was picked up from his home in the Mirpur Defence Officers Housing Society and was finally released in February 2020.
Initially, he was not ready to speak to anyone.
Hussain Rahman told Netra News, 'The place of disappearance is called Ayna Ghar.'
He also told Netra News that Ayna Ghar had 30 cells, soundproof interrogation cells where prisoners were tortured.
Ayna Ghar was guarded by both civilians and the military.
He said, 'When I was in that jail, I heard many people crying in different cells. I am lucky to have been released, but many unfortunate people are still there.'
Sheikh Saleem told Voice of America, 'I am taking this big risk for their sake. I urge the government to stop this heinous crime of enforced disappearances.'
Netra News's Zulqarnain Saer told VOA that when victims are released, they remain silent to save their and their families' lives.
The undercover reporter of Al Jazeera's award-winning investigative film "All the Prime Minister's Men" said, 'Just one mistake and they can be abducted and disappeared again, so it is very important that these voices are heard and reported.'
Now, according to a report by The Daily Star, on Wednesday (August 7), DGFI stated that no one is detained in Ayna Ghar.
DGFI said this to a group of protesters and asked them to inspect the facility.
DGFI told the group that it would form a joint commission to inspect the 23 other detention centers across Bangladesh.
After Hasina's government left, many people gathered in front of DGFI in the hope that their loved ones would be released. Among them are dozens of women waiting to bring their missing husbands, sons, or fathers home after years of detention and torture in the notorious Ayna Ghar.
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