Police have arrested former Chhatra Dal leader Md Helal Mohaldar and his associate Belal Mia on charges of hijacking a truck carrying Indian cumin worth Tk1 crore and demanding Tk5 lakh in extortion on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Bahubal Upazila of Habiganj.
Police also recovered the hijacked truck along with the entire consignment of cumin.
The arrested Md Helal Mohaldar was a candidate for the Mirpur Union Parishad chairman post and former assistant organising secretary of the District Chhatra Dal.
Helal hails from Paschim Jaipur village in Bahubal Upazila, while Belal is from Mamdnagar village in the same upazila.
They were detained from the Mirpur area of Bahubal Upazila at noon on Saturday, said Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bahubal Police Station Md Ruhul Amin Talukdar.
According to police and local sources, a man named Md Obaidullah purchased 171 sacks of Indian cumin at an official government auction on Saturday morning and was transporting the goods by truck.
When the vehicle reached the Mirpur area on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Bahubal Upazila, former Chhatra Dal leader Helal intercepted the truck. Helal, his associate Belal, and several others subsequently detained the truck behind a petrol pump and demanded Tk5 lakh in extortion from Obaidullah over the phone.
Following the extortion demand, Obaidullah immediately reported the incident to the Bahubal police station. A patrolling police team conducted an operation and detained Helal Mohaldar and Belal.
Based on information provided by the arrestees, police later recovered the truck and the cumin from the Bhugli area of the upazila.
OC Md Ruhul Amin Talukdar said that legal procedures against the arrestees are currently ongoing, and drives are underway to arrest others involved in the crime.
“Upon learning about the matter, we took prompt action to detain the accused,” the OC added.
