Gulshan extortion: Expelled Gonotantrik Chhatra Sangsad leader arrested
The Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested Jane Alam alias Apu, an expelled joint convener of the Bangladesh Democratic Student Council (Bangladesh Gonotantrik Chhatra Sangsad), in connection with the extortion at the residence of former member of parliament (MP) Shammi Ahmed.
Jane Alam was arrested this morning (Friday) from Wari area of the capital as confirmed by Muhammad Talebur Rahman, deputy commissioner of DMP’s Media and Public Relations Division.
The DMP official stated that Jane Alam was involved in the extortion incident in Gulshan, identifying himself as coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
On 17 July, several individuals including Abdur Razzak Bin Solaiman alias Riyad, went to the residence of currently banned Awami League’s international affairs secretary Shammi Ahmed in Gulshan area of Dhaka, identifying themselves as “coordinators”.
They allegedly intimidated Shammi Ahmed’s husband, Siddique Abu Zafar, and demanded Tk 5 million (Tk 50 lakh) in extortion. Siddiq Abu Zafar initially paid them Tk 1 million (Tk 10 lakh). On Saturday (19 July) night, the group returned to collect the remaining amount.
At that point Razzak and four others were detained by the police from the scene. The other four were identified as Ibrahim Hossain alias Munna, Sakadaun Siam, Sadman Sadab, and a minor. Siddique Abu Zafar filed a case with Gulshan police station in connection to the incident.
Apart from those five detained, the case statement names another person, Apu, alongside 10-12 unidentified individuals.
Police have taken the four adult detainees on seven-day remand, while the court has sent the minor to the Juvenile Development Centre in Tongi area of Gazipur.
Razzak was the joint convener of the Combined Private University Unit of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and a central committee member of the Bangladesh Democratic Student Council (BDSC).
Both Razzak and Jane Alam were permanently expelled from the BDSC following the extortion incident.
According to police, after collecting Tk 1 million (TK 10 lakh) in extortion from Shammi Ahmed’s residence, the money was divided among Razzak and his associates. Razzak reportedly kept Tk 500,000 (Tk 5 lakh) at his rented flat (a shared residence) in Badda, from which police recovered Tk 298,000 (Tk 2.98 lakh) on Thursday.
At a DMP press briefing on Wednesday, it was revealed that four cheques worth Tk 22.5 million (Tk 2.25 crore) had been recovered from one of Razzak’s rented flats in West Rajabazar. According to Gulshan police, these cheques were issued by ‘Trade Zone’, a business owned by former Awami League-backed MP of Rangpur-6 (Pirganj) constitution, Abul Kalam Azad.