Sajjad Hossain, a listed terrorist, has openly threatened to assault the officer-in-charge (OC) of a police station in Chattogram while live on Facebook.
The incident took place at the Bayazid Bostami Police Station of the port city at 10:39 pm on Tuesday.
In the livestream that lasted more than two minutes, the terrorist was seen hurling abuses and warning the OC – Arif Hossain – that he would not be able to escape under any circumstances. Later, the police officer filed a general diary at the police station.
It was learned that Sajjad Hossain is an associate of another fugitive criminal, Sajjad Ali. The latter is known as ‘Shibir Cadre’ in the area and had been hiding abroad.
Sajjad, son of Md Jamal from Shikarpur in the Hathazari area, has grown reckless since being involved with various crimes. Now, he has 10 cases filed against him, including charges of murder, illegal arms possession, and extortion.
On 17 July last year, cops from the city’s Chandgaon police station arrested him with firearms. But he secured bail and came out the following month. The police attempted to arrest him again on 4 December last year, but he opened fire at the policemen and managed to flee.
In the live video on Tuesday, Sajjad was heard speaking in the Chattogram regional dialect. He threatened that he would track down the OC, drag him to the Oxygen area of the city, and assault him there physically, no matter wherever the officer hides. He would rather die than be defeated.
He also asked the Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) commissioner to transfer the OC from the police station.
When asked about the issue, OC Arifur Rahman told Prothom Alo on Wednesday, “A general diary has been lodged over Sajjad’s threat on Facebook live. Some six people, including associates of Sajjad, were arrested on Monday. This terrorist is telling lies against the police due to their strict stance in preventing extortion and armed violences by Sajjad.”
Meanwhile, an environment of fear was created in the Bayezid Bostami, Chandgaon, Panchlaish, and Hathazari areas, which are home to nearly 300,000 people. His extortion activities, particularly targeting under-construction buildings and businesses, are an open secret issue in the area.
Sajjad carries out his terrorist activities in the Oxygen Ananya, Shitaljharna, and Kalarpool, Kuaish, Chandgaon, and Panchlaish areas, with a group of 15 to 20 goons.
According to both police and local sources, Sajjad opens fire whenever his extortion demands are not met. On 18 September, he reportedly opened fire at an under-construction building in the Kalarpool area as the demanded extortion was not paid. A local source revealed that owners of the building had to settle the issue by paying Tk 500,000 to Sajjad.