File photo of renowned photographer Shahidul Alam Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Detective Branch later confirmed that they had picked him up for interrogation

Celebrated photographer Shahidul Alam has been picked up from his home in Dhanmondi.

He was picked up around 10:30pm Sunday in a car, a source at Drik, Shahidul's photography agency, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Detective Branch later confirmed that they had picked him up for interrogation.

Additional Commissioner of DMP (DB) Abdul Baten told UNB that a team of detectives detained Shahidul from his Dhanmondi residence for interrogation over his Facebook posts over the ongoing student protests.

Ramna Division Additional Deputy Commissioner Abdullahel Kafi confirmed that a member of Shahidul's family had informed the police that Shahidul was picked up from his home.

“Police has not detained him, and we do not know anything about this. We are investigating this allegation,” he said.

Drik issued a statement around 1am today, saying Shahidul was forcibly abducted from his house in Dhanmondi.

“According to security guards of the apartment building and other eyewitness reports, there were roughly 30 to 35 men, in plain clothes, who claimed to be from the Detective Branch (DB),” the statement said.

The men went upstairs, brought down Shahidul, who was screaming as he was forcibly pushed into the waiting car, a HiAce, with the words Popular Life Insurance, written on the outside, the Drik statement said.

“They taped up the CCTV camera, and took away the CCTV camera footage. The guards were manhandled and locked up.

“His partner Rahnuma Ahmed, was in a neigbouring flat, raced downstairs on hearing the scream, but the car carrying him and two other cars waiting outside, sped away,” it said.