TDS Desk:

An inquiry commission has uncovered 40 secret detention centres used by the ousted Awami League administration, more than half of which were operated by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). Each centre contained numerous detention cells, the commission said.

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance presented the findings at a press conference at its Gulshan office on Monday. The commission reviewed 1,569 complaints; so far, 251 people remain missing, while 36 were found dead following their abduction.

The commission said it has interrogated 222 people to determine the whereabouts of the missing. Those questioned included current and former officials, suspects, members of law enforcement agencies, and civilian witnesses.

The body was formed on September 15, 2024, under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1956. The commission’s mandate spans from January 6, 2009 — when the Awami League government formed — to the regime’s collapse in August 2024. It is tasked with locating and identifying missing persons, and determining the circumstances under which the events took place.