Two officers of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) have been accused of detaining a businessman and his pal, threatening to implicate them in a playing case, and extorting money and cryptocurrency from them.
The officers are Assistant Commissioner Shariful Alam Sujon of CMP’s Legislation and Order Intelligence Cell (LIC) and Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Bashir Uddin, a member of his group.
In line with the 2 victims and a police supply, the plainclothes officers picked up businessman Akhtaruzzaman Shakil, 27, and his pal Mansur Ali from a home in Ok Block of Halishahar within the port metropolis on the morning of September 4. They took the 2 males and Shakil’s Toyota Corolla to the LIC workplace.
The victims alleged that the officers seized their cellphones, searched them and transferred private info and pictures to a different system.
Speaking to The Every day Star on Monday, Shakil mentioned the officers threatened to leak personal images of him and his girlfriend and implicate them in a playing case. He alleged that AC Shariful and his group then pressured him to switch $10,864 (round Tk 13.25 lakh) from his Binance account in three transactions.
Shakil additional alleged that three constables took him to a financial institution sales space close to CMP round 10:40pm on September 4 and made him withdraw Tk 4 lakh in 5 transactions. Cellular notifications reviewed by The Every day Star present 5 withdrawals of Tk 80,000 every between 10:52pm and 10:58pm.
He additionally alleged that Tk 80,000 was transferred from a cellular monetary account whereas he was on the LIC workplace.
Speaking to The Every day Star on Tuesday, Mansur alleged that the officers initially demanded Tk 1 crore, threatening to implicate them in a playing case.
He mentioned Shakil ultimately agreed to pay Tk 20 lakh out of worry, with the cash and cryptocurrency handed over in instalments.
The 2 males mentioned they had been launched round midnight after the officers wrote down their names, addresses and telephone numbers on a clean sheet, obtained their signatures and recorded movies of them.
Shakil alleged that Bashir, who launched himself as an inspector, oversaw the method. He mentioned AC Shariful later informed him, “I’ve allow you to off flippantly.”
The next day, Bashir allegedly contacted them a number of occasions about returning Shakil’s automotive and demanded an extra Tk 5 lakh for the car and their cellphones.
Shakil mentioned AC Shariful later requested him to pay Tk 5 lakh and, when he refused, requested an iPhone as a present.
The automotive was returned on the night time of September 5 with none “cash or reward”. Nonetheless, Shakil alleged that 5 of his cellphones remained with the officers.
No case had been filed on this regard as of Wednesday morning, as each victims mentioned they felt insecure.
Shakil launched himself as a businessman dealing in polypropylene (PP) uncooked supplies in Khatunganj. He additionally owns an agro farm in Patiya, Chattogram.
“I’m additionally concerned in buying and selling {dollars} via the Binance app on on-line platforms,” Shakil informed The Every day Star.
His pal Mansur runs a machinery-parts enterprise within the Dewanhat space of town, he added.
In line with Bangladesh Financial institution, buying and selling in cryptocurrency shouldn’t be allowed in Bangladesh.
Digital currencies [subset of virtual assets] are usually not authorised by the central financial institution to settle any sort of overseas trade transaction or for funding as per the Overseas Trade Regulation Act, 1947, in accordance with a Bangladesh Financial institution discover in 2022.
The Every day Star has seen screenshots exhibiting the cryptocurrency transfers and money withdrawals, in addition to audio and video recordings associated to the incident.
Nonetheless, The Every day Star couldn’t independently confirm the screenshots.
When The Every day Star visited the LIC workplace on Tuesday, AC Shariful was absent. Police personnel on responsibility confirmed that Bashir labored there and recognized him as an ASI.
Repeated calls and WhatsApp messages to Shariful looking for his response went unanswered. Bashir additionally didn’t reply to calls.
When requested concerning the alleged abduction and extortion, CMP Commissioner Hasan Md Showkat Ali on Tuesday mentioned, “I’m on depart and am not conscious of the matter. I’ll look into it and allow you to know.”
Contacted once more round 4:36pm Wednesday, the CMP commissioner mentioned, “We’ve heard concerning the incident via some sources. Whoever could also be concerned, we are going to examine the matter. There will probably be no scope for anybody to get away with it. Whoever is accountable will face disciplinary motion if proof is discovered.”
On January 26, 2024, DB officers allegedly picked up freelancer Abu Bakkar from Bayezid Bostami and transferred bitcoins value round Tk 1 crore from his cell phone after threatening to implicate him in a case and kill him in a “crossfire”.
Abu’s spouse later filed a case towards eight police officers and others. An inside CMP investigation subsequently discovered the allegations to be true, following which the officers concerned, together with an inspector, had been suspended and departmental instances had been filed towards them.
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