Dhaka: Kidnappers blindfolded poet and columnist Farhad Mazhar after picking him up in a vehicle, an official said quoting Mazhar.

Abdul Baten, joint commissioner (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said this while talking to reporters at the media centre of Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Tuesday.

Quoting Mazhar, Abdul Baten said some people picked him up in a vehicle and then tied up his mouth and blindfolded him when he went out of his residence for buying medicines early Monday. Later, they made a phone call to his wife over Mazhar's mobile phone and demanded ransom for his release.

The columnist was taken to a Dhaka court at about 3:00pm from the DB office where he made statements under section 164.

Earlier in the day, Farhad Mazhar who had gone 'missing and then rescued' was taken to the office of Detective Branch (DB) of Police at city's Minto Road.

Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of DMP (media), said Mazhar was taken to the DB office at about 10:45am for interrogation.

After bringing him back to the capital from Khulna, police initially took him to Adabar Police Station at about 9:00am.

Meanwhile, Didar Ahmmed, deputy inspector general (DIG) of Khulna Range, told journalists that Farhad Mazhar was brought to Fultola Police Station at about 12:00am after his 'rescue' from a bus of 'Hanif Paribahan' at Nayapara in Abhaynagar upazila on Monday night.

The DIG said Mazhar was not kidnapped as he had gone out of his home 'on his own for a visit'.

Police traced Mazhar at Nayapara in Abhaynagar upazila on Monday night, over 18 hours after he was reportedly kidnapped from the capital.

Police found him at the 'Hanif Paribahan' bus at about 11:30pm while he was returning to Dhaka from Khulna, said officer-in-charge of Abhaynagar Police Station Anisur Rahman.

Earlier, Farhad Mazhar was said to have been kidnapped by unknown miscreants from Adabar in the capital in the early hours on Monday.