BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas today said he believes that someone from the BNP is involved in the disappearance of former BNP lawmaker M Ilias Ali.

The BNP leader also urged party's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to find those involved in the incident.

Abbas came up with the remarks at a virtual discussion today seeking the recovery of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia's from her illness and demanding the return of the party's then organising secretary (Sylhet division) M Ilias Ali.

"Please take measures to identify the culprits of our party behind the disappearance of Ilias Ali," Mirza Abbas said.

"The night before Ilias' disappearance, he (Ilias) had an altercation with a party man in the party office when Ilias scolded him. Those people, who are involved in Ilias's disappearance, are still in our party. If we can't get them out of the party, we can't move forward," he said.

"I got the information around 2:30am on that night when Ilias disappeared. I immediately contacted the officials I knew, and they informed me that he (Ilias) was being taken to Chattogram."

The driver of Ilias Ali's car has also not been found since then, said the BNP leader.

Nine years have passed since M Ilias Ali and his driver Ansar disappeared from the capital, but their families are still waiting anxiously for their return.

Ilias, then organising secretary (Sylhet division) of BNP, and his driver Ansar went missing on the night of April 17, 2012. The party alleged that the government's law enforcement agencies picked them up.

BNP had staged protests, including a countrywide hartal, over the "enforced disappearance" of the former lawmaker.

Read More: Nine years gone, still no word on Ilias Ali