The alleged investigative report of Netra News about the disappearance of Ilias Ali is full of inconsistent and baseless information. Basically, they try to prove their assumption as much of the video seems to be fabricated at first glance. Those whom the allegations were made against might clarify things better.
Nowhere in the Netra News report, it is mentioned that Ilias Ali’s car hit another car on the day of the incident and there was an altercation over it.
According to news reports, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called on Ilias Ali’s family on April 30 days after he went missing on April 17. But Netra News lied about the meeting too in its report.
Ask these questions to understand the motive behind the attempt to prove a pre-decided conclusion:
1. It is reported that RAB and DB have the ability to monitor mobile phones, and NMC is a separate entity. If RAB has this power, why does it take the help of another organization?
2. It shows a ‘so-called’ investigation report by the RAB. Is it realistic that RAB-1 will investigate any operation of RAB intelligence?
3. Any security organization should use its own network for communication. There will be no access to any medium like the internet, pen drive or data exchange without a print option. A portion of the video claims that “One who has access to the CV of Captain Touhid said” – meaning that the report also hints at the confidentiality of the information. So is it possible to get a soft version of such a document?
4. It presents the word-file document titled ‘Mystery over Disappearance of Ilias Ali’ in Unicode fonts. Customized fonts are commonly used to store confidential information, which cannot be read on any other device. For the sake of argument, if we assume that the text has been copied and brought through some medium, then it is not possible to read it, at least in Unicode.
5. The report also shows the office access logs of the then two captains. The service numbers of those against whom the allegations were made were incorrect. It tries to justify that if the access card does not work, manual access is given. Many offices now have such a system. So, is there any chance of giving manual access by bypassing the system? This is possible only if you use someone else’s card. And if you do that, someone else’s name will be on the list. Is it happen in the report? And if it does, can it be complained about?
6. The crucial fact is the access log has been edited and the name was replaced in the photo editor. What is the proof? Is it possible for an army captain to be a technician in any way? Although the two accused had the title Captain, they forgot to edit the text “Technician” in the next column. That is, the name has been replaced with someone else.
7. Does being in NMC mean two officers are involved in Ilias Ali’s disappearance? The problem with the fraud journalists of Netra News is they have no idea about the capability of the country. Transportable devices have been used for mobile monitoring for a long time. Why do you need NMC’s Manjurul or Touhid for doing this?
8. The report also gives a few mobile numbers of Citycell company, linking those in the disappearance incident. But these SIM/RIM/ Headsets are difficult to buy. BNP leader and former minister M Morshed Khan owned the company too.
9. The report claims that Ilias’s phone number was dropped from the tracking on the day of his disappearance. This is impossible because only the system admin can delete the information from the system even if anyone gets a chance to see it. In other words, you need to follow the official procedure to delete a number. It also reports that the Zia Hasan of RAB was a Lt. Colonel then. But it is not possible to do that from the position of intelligence. So arguably, there might come approval from the top level. If this is true, then the claim that RAB-1 investigating RAB Intelligence should be considered false because RAB-1 cannot investigate this if there is top-level consent.
10. One of the mobile numbers obtained from the screenshot of the scene is – 01192088324. In the True Caller app, this number shows the name of the user M Naser Rahman. Is the name of Saifur Rahman’s son Naser Rahman? There had been a long-standing dispute between the supporters of this Saifur Rahman and Ilias Ali in Sylhet politics. Ilias Ali has been blamed for Saifur Rahman’s car accident many years.
The investigative report may give an idea of the probability based on the assumptions. But Netra News has published the story the outcome of what they had earlier determined, and this is nothing but a sheer example of yellow journalism. Will there be punishment for such falsehood, misinformation and disinformation?