He reached Libya, held hostage and later returned empty-handed

Following an agreement made for Tk 1.2 million to send someone to Italy, an individual was taken via New Delhi, India, Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Sharjah, UAE to Egypt. From there, the person was sent to Libya across remote deserts and mountain borders.

He was held in a so-called 'game room' and subjected to physical and mental torture, with the contract money being extorted.

Later, when detained by Libyan law enforcement, members of the fraudulent group demanded an additional Tk 600,000 from the family for his release.

In the human trafficking case related to this incident, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police arrested two members of the trafficking gang.

On Monday afternoon, CID conducted an operation in front of the Civil Aviation Welfare Market at the Ashkona Hajj Camp in the Airport Police Station area of the capital and arrested the two individuals.

The arrested individuals are Md Atiqur Rahman Thomas (32) and Md Badiul Alam Bhuiyan alias Belal (54).

According to CID sources, the young man, a resident of Senbagh, Noakhali, had been working in Saudi Arabia for about three years.

On his way back to the country, he met a fellow passenger on the plane, through whom he got acquainted with a member of the human trafficking gang.

Members of the gang enticed him with the promise of safe passage to Italy via Libya. An agreement was made to send him to Italy for Tk 1.2 million.

According to the agreement, the young man submitted his passport at an office in Ashkona, Dhaka, on 5 April. He also paid an advance of Tk 130,000.

On 7 April, he was first sent to New Delhi, India, and then to Colombo, Sri Lanka. During his 16-day stay there, his family was incrementally asked for more money under various pretexts. Subsequently, he was sent to Cairo, Egypt, via Sharjah.

According to the complaint, a member of the gang took the young man from Cairo airport to a house, where he was held for about five days. Later, an additional 6,000 US dollars was demanded, citing the previous agreement.

This amount was also extracted. A total of Tk 1.267 million was taken from the young man and his family via cash, mobile banking, and bank accounts.

He was then taken by car across remote deserts and mountain borders to Libya. There, a person known as an associate of the gang confined him in a so-called "game room, " where he was subjected to physical and mental torture.

Later, the Libyan law enforcement agency conducted an operation and detained the young man, among others, sending him to prison. There, too, Tk 600,000 was demanded from his family for his release.

Subsequently, on 7 July, the Libyan police repatriated him to Bangladesh. After returning to the country, he filed a case at the Airport Police Station on 5 October.

After receiving the responsibility of the investigation, CID identified the suspects’ locations through data verification and intelligence information. Following this, an operation was conducted, and Atiqur Rahman Thomas and Badiul Alam Bhuiyan were arrested.

The two arrested have been sent to court with a remand application for questioning, and the investigation of the case is ongoing.