Behind the Nilufar Villa Drama: The Untold Story of Two Students Jailed Without Trial

For the past six years, two students from the Pharmacy Department of Manarat International University have remained in detention at the Narsingdi jail without trial. They were accused in a fabricated police case involving alleged links to JMB. In 2018, they were picked up and taken to “Nilufar Villa” in Narsingdi, where a counter-terrorism drama was staged by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC).

Among the two, Khadija Parveen alias Meghna, an Honors final year student, lived in a mess just in front of Manarat University in Ashulia. The other student, Israt Jahan alias Moushumi alias Mou, lived with her parents and brothers in a rented house in Mirpur.

According to family sources, CTTC officials first picked up Meghna from her mess. Then, using her, they lured her friend Mou and took them both to Nilufar Villa in Narsingdi where the drama was enacted.

According to university faculty, the two students were falsely portrayed as Islamic extremists. The secular Sheikh Hasina government’s primary objective was to instill fear among female students who were gravitating towards Islam, particularly in institutions like Manarat.

Amar Desh's investigation identified the masterminds behind this false operation as former CTTC chiefs Monirul Islam and Md. Asaduzzaman, both of whom are now fugitives.

Both Monirul and Asaduzzaman went into hiding after Sheikh Hasina fled during the July mass uprising. It is believed they initially escaped to India, though their current location remains unknown.

Both officers were later forced into retirement and have a well-documented history of extrajudicial killings under the guise of counter-terrorism. They are also implicated in the July Genocide.

During Sheikh Hasina’s rule, these two officials and their team often staged anti-terror operations in remote towns, deserted neighborhoods, or isolated rural areas — allegedly on direct instructions from Hasina herself.

According to the families of the victims, Meghna and Mou were scapegoats in one such “master plan” orchestrated by Monirul and Asaduzzaman.

What Was the Connection Between the Two Friends?

Khadija Parveen alias Meghna hails from West Beltaila village under Jhenaigati Police Station in Sherpur district. She is married to Rakibul Hasan, and due to her studies, she lived in a mess in Khajan area near Manarat University.

Were Meghna and her friend Mou really operating a militant hideout in the seven-story house owned by Haji Afzal Hossain in Madhabdi’s Small Godairchar area?

If it was a hideout, how long had they been staying there?

To find the answer, Amar Desh spoke with Meghna’s father, Md. Khorshed Alam, who recounted the day his daughter disappeared.

He said:
“My daughter used to live in a mess near Manarat University. After her exams, she called me and said, ‘Baba, I want to come home. Send me 1,000 taka.’ I sent the money at 3:00 PM. She withdrew it at 3:14 PM. After that, she never answered her phone. This was on 3 or 4 October 2018.”

“Later, I contacted the mess and was told that she went out in the afternoon and never came back. The next day, I visited the mess and found it locked. We had no clue where she went. A few days later, I saw her on TV being taken down from a seven-story building in Narsingdi.”

That’s how he came to know about his daughter’s arrest — through the media portrayal of CTTC’s staged drama.

Khorshed Alam continued:
“They beat her badly (the police-CTTC). To file a false case, that’s why! They also arrested her husband, but he’s out on bail now. They have no children.”

Meghna was used to lure her friend Israt Jahan Mou. Mou’s mother, Maksuda Rahman, is directly affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami. She told this reporter, “It was Meghna who called my daughter and took her out.”

How the "False Flag Operation" Was Staged

The two students had already been arrested once in 2016 based on fabricated intelligence. They were held by RAB and spent several months in jail before being released on bail. After that, CTTC targeted them again.

Under the global “War on Terror” narrative championed by the US and India, CTTC members portrayed the two girls as hardcore terrorists through a media trial — changing the course of their lives forever.

Mohammad Saimum Hasan, Israt’s elder brother, told Amar Desh:
“My mother is a Rukon of Jamaat. My sister is a member of the student organization.”

When asked why Mou was first arrested in 2016, Saimum said,
“Four friends came to our house for a group study. Later, we heard they were taken away as militants. Police found some Hadith books, a translation of the Qur’an, and a few Jamaat books.”

How the Staged Operation Played Out in an Isolated Area

On October 16, 2018, a seven-story building owned by Haji Afzal Hossain in Small Godairchar, Madhabdi municipality, was cordoned off by law enforcement around 8:30 PM as a suspected militant hideout. It was widely reported in the media that the building, named “Nilufar Villa”, was a terrorist den.

For over 24 hours, CTTC Chief Monirul Islam kept the media on edge. Awami League-backed media outlets broadcast police claims without verifying them. The area was placed under Section 144, limiting public movement.

On October 17, Monirul Islam told the media:
“Two suspects surrendered from the hideout. Since they were women, we made all efforts for their peaceful surrender. They even tried to throw explosives at us and one did go off, though no one was injured.”

But this claim did not match the official charge sheet.

The charge sheet stated:
“At one point, the said militants surrendered and were taken into police custody. Later, a bomb disposal unit found a suicide vest with three bombs in the southwest room, which they defused.”

This alone disproves Monirul’s claim of any explosion during the arrest.

Witness Testimonies Disprove Police Narrative

The building's security guard, a local resident, and a (since transferred) Sub-Inspector of Madhabdi Police who participated in the operation all gave testimonies contradicting Monirul’s version.

Security guard Abdur Razzak (then 61) said in court:
“...When police officers asked them to open the door over a loudspeaker, the accused opened the door and came out.”

Police witness SI Subal Chandra Pal and local witness Montu Chandra Shil also stated that the girls peacefully surrendered — no explosions, no resistance.

Monirul had claimed:
“Moushumi Akter Mou and Khadija Akter Meghna were active members of neo-JMB. They had been previously jailed and after being released, they again became involved in militancy. They didn’t return home after jail.”

Their families reject these claims.

They say the girls were targeted because of their religious practice and association with Jamaat members. RAB initially framed them, and CTTC revived that narrative to serve political interests.

No response was obtained from RAB regarding this.

How "Dangerous" Were the Girls?

Police claimed they recovered:

• Five pieces of a brown backpack

• Three parts of a “suicidal vest”

• A piece of purple cloth used to wrap the vest (which was allegedly burned after defusal)

• Five broken tiles — supposedly shattered during bomb defusal

They also seized a copy of Hisnul Muslim and a Qur’an translation, using these as evidence to portray them as terrorists.

Despite claiming to have recovered a suicide vest, the vest was never shown in court, according to Israt Jahan Mou’s lawyer, Lokman Hossain.

On December 9, he told Amar Desh:
“The suicide vest mentioned by police as evidence was never presented in court.”

He added that several civilians were shown as witnesses, but most later testified:
“They were simply present with the CTTC force at the scene.”

Even though public movement was restricted under Section 144, these witnesses supposedly accompanied police and signed the seizure list as per their court depositions.

What Police Say Now

One of the police witnesses was SI (now retired) Md. Jahangir Hossain of Madhabdi Police Station.

When contacted by phone on December 11, he said:

Are you still at Madhabdi Police Station?
“No, brother. I was there long ago. Now I’m at Shafipur, Tangail.”

Have you been promoted?
“No, still in the same post.”

Do you remember arresting two girls from Nilufar Villa?
(Silent pause)

Asked again, he said:
“No, no, no. I don’t remember.”

But you were stationed there at the time?
“Yes, yes, I was at Madhabdi.”

The court file lists your name, rank, and this phone number.

(Pause)
“Yes, maybe. I might have gone there with the force.”

So, you don’t really remember the incident?
(Laughs) “Yes, I don’t remember.”

But surely one would remember such a big incident?
“Yes.”

A New CTTC Drama Around the Two Students

During the July 19 attack on Narsingdi Jail during the July Uprising, massive unrest broke out inside. Due to the chaos, many female inmates, including Meghna and Mou, were released by the prison superintendent for their safety.

The prison authorities even called their family members.

Once things calmed, the girls themselves re-surrendered to the authorities.

Meghna’s father Khorshed Alam said,
“I spoke with the jailer. He said the jail was burned. They couldn’t keep the girls there.”

But after they re-surrendered, CTTC chief Md. Asaduzzaman told media:
“These two were the most dangerous among the nine militants. They broke into the armory and released others from the cells. We’re investigating who supported this.”

Khorshed Alam refuted this:
“They threatened us and the girls to say they escaped from jail. Asaduzzaman beat them. Filed two new cases and sent them to Kashimpur. He staged the whole thing. DB’s Harun was involved too. Monirul was also part of it. They’ve made millions off these dramas.”

Israt’s brother Saimum Hasan confirmed this:
“The jail authorities told us the girls were released for security reasons. My father had a stroke. I took my sister from Narsingdi Jail in an ambulance. The next day, DB officers came to our house, claimed a militant was hiding here, and broadcast the story across the country.”

If the current government initiates an investigation into the Nilufar Villa incident, the truth may finally emerge — and the two students of Manarat University may get a chance to start life anew.