A joint forces team has arrested Asaduzzaman Jony, a prominent BNP leader from Noapara in Abhoynagar, Jessore, on charges of extorting Tk 40 million by abducting and brutally torturing a businessman.
The arrest took place in Khulna on Wednesday night during a raid, Abhoynagar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abdul Alim confirmed. Police said Jony had been on the run for a long time.
According to the case statement, in July last year, Asma Khatun, the wife of a Noapara businessman, alleged that her husband was abducted at gunpoint, threatened with death if ransom was not paid, and buried in sand up to his chest. The abductors allegedly extorted Tk 40 million in several instalments. Jony and several others were accused in the incident, leading to a case being filed on 3 August this year against six people, including Jony.
OC Alim said the arrest followed secret intelligence and that Jony is currently in Abhoynagar Police Station custody for interrogation. Police are also investigating other allegations of drug trafficking and extortion against him.
On 12 August, Jony’s sister, Mony Jermin Ilora, held a press conference at Jessore Press Club claiming that a vested group was spreading false and baseless accusations against her brother for political reasons. She alleged that the complainant, businessman Shahnawaz Kabir Tipu, was a known fraudster who staged the incident to damage her family’s reputation.
Jony was suspended from his post as organisational secretary of the Noapara municipal BNP on 21 November 2024 for alleged breach of party discipline.