Former ‘coordinator’ Jan-e Alam’s lifestyle suddenly changed after mass uprising

Jan-e Alam (Apu), the expelled joint convener of the Gonotantrik Chhatra Sangsad, was arrested on charges of extortion at the residence of former Awami League MP Shammi Ahmed in the capital’s Gulshan.

His home is in Punghardighi village of Akkelpur upazila in Joypurhat. According to local residents, Jan-e Alam comes from a lower-middle-class family. His life changed dramatically just a few days after the mass uprising.

Expensive clothes, commuting by car, photos with influential politicians and top police officials — all of these were seen on his Facebook page.

In Joypurhat, police and officials on the administration treated Jan-e Alam with noticeable respect. He first returned the district on 11 August, shortly after the mass uprising.

On that visit, the then Superintendent of Police, Mohammad Nur Alam, greeted him with flowers. The current SP, Muhammad Abdul Wahab, also greeted him in the same way.

These photos remain on Facebook. Whenever he visited the area, Jan-e Alam introduced himself as a very powerful person. Residents of his village said they were not surprised when news broke of his involvement in extortion in Gulshan.

On Sunday afternoon, Shafiul Alam, a resident of Punghardighi village and a neighbour of Jan-e Alam, said , “Jan-e Alam was always a bit precocious. No one lives in his village home. He stayed there briefly during the NCP’s Joypurhat programme. A few days later, we learned that a video of his extortion in Gulshan had surfaced. We weren’t surprised at all.”

Local people said Jan-e Alam was once involved with the Chhatra Dal in the area. He is currently a law student at Green University in Dhaka. During the anti-discrimination student movement, he was seen as a prominent coordinator among private university protesters.

Akkelpur Upazila Chhatra Dal convener Dewan Tanvin Newaz said Jan-e Alam had been a Chhatra Dal member around 2022. He was later expelled from the party due to a scandal involving women. After that, he joined various parties at different times. He used to post pictures with powerful individuals, including the Home Affairs Advisor, on Facebook. These images helped him present himself as a powerful leader and facilitated his extortion activities.

“Jan-e Alam extorted money and then used to preach good behaviour on Facebook,” Newaz said. “He has brought shame to the people of Joypurhat. We demand exemplary punishment.”

A visit to Punghardighi revealed that Janey Alam’s father, Anwar Hossain (Dulal), had worked in a private institution in Dhaka and died about eight years ago. The family owns a two-story mud house and a small concrete structure. Janey’s mother has since remarried, and his younger sister lives with her. As a result, the house remains locked most of the time.

Another Chhatra Dal leader and online activist, Arman Hossain, said, “After the uprising, Jan-e Alam’s lifestyle changed overnight. Extortion and lobbying became his main sources of income. He didn’t do much in the local area, but it was said that he had accumulated assets and money in the bank in Dhaka. A few days after the uprising, he arrived in the village in a luxury car. At that time, district police and administration officials greeted him warmly.”

After his father’s death, Jan-e Alam lived for a while with his grandparents in the village of Kathalbari in the same upazila. He spent very little time in the area. His father’s two to three bighas of land were mortgaged long ago. His grandfather has passed away.

His grandmother, Akhlakunnesa Bakul, said she had heard about her grandson’s arrest on extortion charges. “He hasn’t visited us much since his mother remarried. He lived here for two or three years a long time ago,” she said.

His aunt Jasmine added, “I heard that Apu had become a very big leader in Dhaka. He grew up without guardians. He didn’t keep in touch with us.”