Dhaka, July 13 : Bangladeshi writer Farhad Mazhar was not kidnapped as he claimed, Inspector General of Police A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque said on Thursday, adding that he staged his own abduction to embarrass the government.
"Our investigation suggests that Mazhar went to Khulna on his own and he was not abducted," Hoque told the media on the investigation into the man's mysterious disappearance and rescue last week.
"We are guessing that he did this to embarrass the government and to make some money," he added, referring to the writer-poet-activist.
Archana Rani, a former employee of the 69-year-old Mazhar, suggested that he staged his own abduction, reported the Dhaka Tribune. Mazhar's family refused to comment on her claim.
Police have been sceptical about the abduction claim made by Mazhar who was found on a bus headed from Jessore to Dhaka, 18 hours after he reportedly went missing from outside his home in the capital.
He claimed he was forced into a bus by abductors while buying medicines on July 3, reported bdnews24.
He had made five phone calls to his wife Farida asking her to get hold of 3.5 million taka ($43,000) as "ransom money".
Police said they found out he was in touch with another woman too during this period. "All this suggests he was not abducted."
