We are shocked at the disappearance of Dr Muhammed Iqbal Mahmud, a medical officer of the Directorate General of Health Services, who was abducted 38 days ago from the heart of the capital by a gang of people riding a microbus. What defies logic is that the law enforcers have failed to make any headway into the case despite a CCTV footage that exposed the number plate of the abductors' vehicle. The incident is disconcerting since it happened in full view of the law enforcing agencies as a police car happened to be immediately behind the said microbus during the abduction. 

We believe that if the police do not get to the bottom of the case and find out the perpetrators, it will reinforce the perception among the ordinary people that it is a case of forced disappearance. Circumvention of justice and rule of law has disturbed the societal order in many countries, which we cannot afford. Such state of affairs also dents the national image abroad.   

There is no need to remind that it is the government's constitutional obligation to protect its citizens, and on that account it needs to commission a probe body to investigate into such incidents. Indeed it is the government's responsibility to enforce rule of law and provide satisfactory accounts of what happens to missing persons. It is for the administration to let us know the whereabouts of Dr Mahmud and laud the High Court for directing the authorities concerned to submit a report on the steps taken to trace the missing physician.