The joint forces, following a tip off, raided Mehedi Hasan's house in Banani around 3:00pm and arrested Mehedi under the Emergency Power Rules and seized the vehicle. Mehedi is the son-in-law of Orion Group chairman Obaidul Karim who is on the run from police.

Patal, now detained, allegedly sold the Lexus SUV in 2004 to Mehedi, managing director of Hashem Real Estate, before using it for three years, which was mandatory for lawmakers buying vehicles under the duty-free vehicle purchase privilege for MPs.

As per the law, it was illegal to sell a vehicle imported under lawmakers' quota before three years. In April, the present caretaker government cancelled this privilege of duty-free cars for lawmakers as most of them had misused it in the past.

Sources said Mehedi told Gulshan police that he purchased the vehicle for Tk 39 lakh.

The joint forces said they will handover the luxury car to customs officials.