Four former leaders of the Chhatra League and Swechhasebak League were sent to jail after being shown arrested in a case in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur area.
They were shown arrested in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act on Thursday.
Before being handed over to police, they were allegedly tortured and forced to pay Tk4.1 lakh by a ward-level BNP leader and his associates.
Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ashraful Haque sent them to jail after they were produced before the court.
The arrested individuals are Jalal Uddin, 32, Naim Hasan Dalim, 32, Mahmudul Hasan Mamun, 34, and Al-Amin, 35. Among them, Jalal was a former member of Ward No. 1 Chhatra League in Bhaluka upazila. Naim was the former president of Ward No. 7 Chhatra League in Hobirbari Union, while Mahmudul was a former organising secretary of the same union unit. Al-Amin was a former member of Ward No. 7 Swechhasebak League in the union.
Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman, an official at the General Registration section of the Mohammadpur Police Station court branch, confirmed the matter.
According to allegations from sources at the police station, Sabbir Hossain Robin, joint secretary of the BNP’s Ward No. 31 unit in Mohammadpur, and his associates detained the four men at a house in Dhaka Udyan and tortured them for at least 10 hours.
During that time, their cash and mobile phones were allegedly taken away. The sources claimed that Tk4.1 lakh was later extorted through various means on Robin’s instructions, with promises that the four would be released.
Sources said that after collecting the money, Robin asked Mohammadpur Police Station Inspector Mofiz Uddin to send officers to the location. Sub-Inspector Masud Rana, who was on duty at the station, then went to the scene. A short while later, Sub-Inspector Amiruzzaman also arrived. The four were later taken to the police station.
Mohammadpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abdul Halim said three Chhatra League leaders and one Swechhasebak League leader had been arrested from the Dhaka Udyan area and legal action had been taken against them. He claimed the arrestees had been in contact with central Awami League leaders by mobile phone and were staying in the area to carry out terrorist activities and organise Awami League processions in Dhaka.
Regarding the torture allegations, OC Halim said police had been busy with Durga Puja duties on Wednesday and learned about the incident at night. He added that the allegations would be investigated if any wrongdoing had been committed against the arrested individuals. He also said a laptop and three mobile phones had been seized during the arrest.
Robin has also recently been accused of involvement in the theft of a bell from St Christina Church in the Asad Gate Avenue area. According to sources familiar with the matter, after reports of the incident appeared in the media, Robin returned the bell under pressure from senior officials, claiming to have recovered it. Despite evidence allegedly emerging during the investigation, no action was taken against him, police sources said.
Several attempts were made to contact Robin by phone for comment, but he did not answer. His phone was later found switched off.
Tejgaon Division Deputy Commissioner of Police (DC) Ibn-e-Mizan said he was unaware of the allegations that the four men had been detained, tortured and extorted before being handed over to police.
“I was not aware of the matter. I learned about it later. If a complaint is received regarding the incident, action will certainly be taken,” he said.
He added that action would also be taken against any Mohammadpur police officials found to have been involved in the incident.
“No one will be spared if they commit wrongdoing,” the DC said.
