The Detective Branch (DB) Ramna Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has arrested Md Nurul Chowdhury, 40, on allegations of embezzling money through job fraud.
He allegedly posed as senior officials of the Bangladesh Army, police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to lure victims with promises of employment.
He was arrested during a raid on the third floor of a house in the Sunday-Society residential area on Bhuiyabari Bashtola Road under DMP’s Uttara Division early on Tuesday. The information was later disclosed at a press conference held at the DMP Media Centre.
The DB said the raid was conducted after information about the activities of the fraud ring was collected and verified using intelligence and technology.
During the arrest, two walkie-talkies, two walkie-talkie chargers, a forged passport, a fake identity card identifying Nurul as an army major, another fake identity card identifying him as a RAB deputy director with the rank of colonel, three Android mobile phones, 10 different types of army uniforms, medical books, various forms and pads were recovered from his possession.
Passport-sized photographs showing him wearing uniforms identifying him as an army major and a superintendent of police, as well as fake army recruitment notices and job application forms, were also recovered.
According to the DB’s preliminary interrogation, Nurul Chowdhury had been carrying out such fraud in a planned manner with his associates for a long time.
He sometimes identified himself as “Major Al Mamun”, sometimes as “Colonel Nazim” and at other times as “Major Tanvir”, luring people with promises of jobs in the Bangladesh Army as soldiers, cooks, peons and chefs.
Unemployed young jobseekers, rickshaw pullers, labourers, day labourers and other low-income people were among the ring’s main targets. To gain their trust, the group used fake recruitment notices, application forms, identity cards, army uniforms and photographs showing them wearing uniforms of different forces.
The DB also found information that Nurul had defrauded different people by sometimes posing as a member of the Special Branch (SB) or DB and at other times using the identity of “Superintendent of Police Tarikur Rahman”.
Police claimed that Nurul was also accused of extorting money by using the identities of law enforcement personnel to blackmail and intimidate people and threaten to implicate them in false cases.
The DB further said a fraud-related case had been filed against Nurul Chowdhury with Shah Ali Police Station. The process of taking legal action against him is under way.
Detectives are examining the recovered mobile phones, fake identity cards, recruitment-related documents, uniforms and other evidence in an effort to identify others involved in the fraud. Intelligence activities are also continuing to arrest other members of the ring and gather information about people who fell victim to the fraud.
