The authorities of Islamic University in Kushtia reconstituted a fact-finding committee to investigate the unresolved disappearance of two of its students, Waliullah and Al-Mukaddas, who went missing more than 13 years ago.
An office order, signed by IU acting registrar Professor Manjurul Haque, was issued in this regard on Tuesday.
The move came on Saturday, coinciding with the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, as the campus unit of Islami Chhatra Shibir formed a human chain in front of the administrative building demanding the return of the two missing students.
According to the office order, the reconstitution of the six-member committee, headed by management department Professor Abdul Hannan Sheikh as convener and planning and development acting director Muazzem Hossain as member secretary.
Da’wah and Islamic Studies department professor AHM Tariqul Islam, Arabic Language and Literature department Professor and student adviser Obaidul Islam, Electrical and Electronic Engineering department Professor Khairul Islam, and Kushtia district judge court lawyer SM Shatil Mahmud are the members of the probe body.
The committee has been asked to submit its report within 30 working days.
Waliullah, a master’s student of Da’wah and Islamic Studies department and finance secretary of the campus unit of Islami Chhatra Shibir, and Al-Mukaddas, a fourth-year honours student of Al-Fiqh and cultural secretary of the same organisation, went missing in 2011.
Their sudden disappearance sparked widespread concern across the campus and drew attention from human rights organizations, which have long suspected enforced disappearance.
Over the years, multiple committees have been formed, but none produced conclusive findings or led to accountability. The case remained a painful chapter in the university’s history, with families and student groups continuing to demand justice.
This latest initiative reflects renewed institutional attention to the case.
The university administration has called on all departments and individuals to cooperate fully with the committee to ensure a thorough and impartial investigation.
