Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque yesterday expressed doubts over the authenticity of the reported abduction of poet and political analyst Farhad Mazhar.

"There is no confirmed information that he (Farhad) was really abducted," he said while talking to reporters after attending a function at the Institute of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh, on creating awareness about narcotics.

He said police had not yet found any clue to the alleged abduction of Farhad Mazhar.

The police boss, however, said the incident was being thoroughly investigated and hoped a clear picture would emerge.

A number of unidentified persons on Monday morning picked up Farhad Mazhar, known to be a pro-BNP intellectual, from near his Adabar residence.

Later, he was rescued from Avoynagar, in Jessore, after about 19 hours of his alleged abduction.

Another top police official in Khulna termed his disappearance as voluntary and said it appeared that Farhad Mazhar went to Khulna voluntarily, as he did not forget to carry his

personal belongings. He was rescued from a Dhaka-bound bus of the Hanif Paribahan with a bag and mobile charger.

The home minister later said the government did not find any fault of Farhad Mazhar so far.

Asaduzzaman Khan had told journalists on Wednesday that the matter was being investigated.

The focus of the investigation is whether he had gone out of his house alone or whether anyone called him out, said the minister.

After the rescue, Farhad Mazhar was taken to Dhaka and produced before the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s (CMM) court after being interrogated by the Detective Branch police.

 Farhad Mazhar gave a confessional statement under 164 of the CrPC before the court and was granted self-custody upon his application.

 He is now undergoing treatment at Birdem Hospital in the city under the supervision of medicine specialist Prof Dr AKM Musa.