Police arrested three people for allegedly extorting Tk1,59,000 from a man in Uttara by posing as members of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI).
The arrested are Md Russell Mahbub alias Masum, 42, Sohel Mirza, 41, and Md Sajib, 36.
Quoting Uttara East Police Station, DMP Deputy Commissioner (Media) Akhter Hossain said on Saturday noon that a patrol team from the police station went to a flat on the 10th floor of a building on Road No 3 in Sector 4 around 8am on Friday after receiving information through the national emergency service 999.
Police said several people were threatening the flat owner, Kaiyum Shahriar Zahedi, while claiming to be DGFI members and telling him that a case had been filed against him.
At one stage, they demanded Tk10 lakh from him to settle the purported case, and Zahedi paid them Tk1,59,000 out of fear.
Later, suspecting their activities, he sought police assistance by calling 999.
Police subsequently reached the scene and found a DGFI identity card in the possession of one of the suspects.
During questioning, the suspects admitted to extorting money while posing as DGFI members, police said.
Police recovered a fake DGFI identity card, a motorcycle, Tk1,59,000 in cash, a walkie-talkie and a pair of handcuffs from their possession.
A case was filed with the Uttara East Police Station, and legal procedures are under way to send the arrestees to court.
