When Bangladesh became independent, Zahir Raihan returned to Dhaka on December 17, 1971. Upon his return, he heard that his elder brother Shahidullah Kaiser had been missing since December 14. Having lost his idealistic elder brother, he started searching for him like a madman. On his initiative, a private intellectual murder investigation committee was formed. He collected a lot of evidence of intellectual murders and other incidents and announced in a press conference that the evil deeds of many people would be exposed if the evidence he collected was published.
During the War of Independence, Zahir Raihan collected documentary evidence on the anti-liberation war activities of leading figures of the Awami League on Indian soil, their luxurious and leisurely lifestyle in various hotels, and the conspiracy to eliminate Bengalis who did not believe in the Awami ideology, which were his political opponents, while he was in Kolkata. The disappearance of his elder brother Shahidullah Kaiser and the killing of intellectuals disturbed him. These events shook the foundation of his previous political beliefs.
It is worth mentioning here that on December 22, 1971, a Razakar identified as the kidnapper of Shahidullah Kaiser was arrested by Mujib's forces, who was identified by Shahidullah Kaiser's wife Panna Kaiser. But that person was released from prison a few weeks later. Although he was later arrested under the Agents Act, he was released like everyone else under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's general amnesty.
On January 25, 1972, 15 days after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first dictator in Bangladesh's political history, assumed absolute power in Bangladesh, at a press conference at the Dhaka Press Club, renowned filmmaker Zahir Raihan announced that he had documents and evidence of many secret incidents during the Liberation War, including the revelation of the blueprint behind the murder of intellectuals, which, if published, would expose the infamy of many leaders of the AL who were in the cabinet of the newly independent Bangladesh. The film show at this press club on the evening of January 30 will prove who had what character.
A few days after the press conference on January 25, 1972, on Sunday morning, January 30, an unknown telephone call came to Zahir Raihan's house in Kaittuli from an unknown person named Rafiq. Rafiq was a former acquaintance of Zahir who worked at the USIS. Zahir Raihan's younger sister, Dr. Suraiya, who was looking for Zahir, first picked up the phone. Suraiya called Zahir Raihan and handed over the phone. Zahir was told on the phone that your elder brother is imprisoned at Mirpur 12. If you want to save your elder brother, then go to Mirpur immediately. Only you can save him if you go. After receiving the telephone call, Zahir Raihan took two cars and left for Mirpur. He was accompanied by his younger brother, the late Zakaria Habib, cousin Shahriar Kabir, Babul (Suchanda's brother), Abdul Haque (Panna Kaiser's brother), Nizam and Parvez. After reaching Mirpur Section 2, the Indian Army, Bangladesh Army (East Bengal Regiment) and members of the Svairachar Mujib Police Force stationed there sent the others back, citing security reasons, asking them to stay with Zahir Raihan's Toyota car (Dhaka-K-9771). Shahriar Kabir returned home with the others. Thus, Zahir disappeared forever. However, that very afternoon, he was supposed to reveal many rare information and evidence in his possession at the Press Club, which if leaked would have exposed the faces of many AL members who had survived the Liberation War, which was never done again.
A month and a half after Zahir Raihan disappeared, Shahidullah Kaiser and Zahir Raihan's sister Nafisa Kabir, Shahidullah Kaiser's wife Panna Kaiser, Zahir's second wife Suchanda, and many other members of the families of the intellectuals killed in 1971 went to meet the autocratic Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, but the autocratic Sheikh Mujibur Rahman kept everyone waiting at the gate of his house. At one point, when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman came to the gate and asked about the protest and the reason for the meeting, Nafisa Kabir exchanged heated words with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
