Fugitive convict makes himself invisible to police

Ayub Ali Talukdar

Despite having a conviction warrant in a cheating case, Ayub Ali Talukdar, a street vendor, has been roaming freely and even running a business openly in Rajshahi city.

Ayub was seen with his food cart near the same old spot in Shaheb Bazar area and was even available over the phone as well as active on Facebook till now but only police could not bother to arrest him, the complainant, Arifuzzaman Nabab, told The Daily Star.

Ayub resumed his food cart business in the beginning of this June, said Nabab, quoting witnesses.

”I informed Boalia police over the phone on June 14 when I saw Ayub selling street foods in Shaheb Bazar area but the law enforcers did not take any initiative to arrest him,” he alleged.

Nabab, a driver of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), was a regular customer at Ayub's food cart “Mama Halim” and gradually they became friends. In the beginning of 2009, Ayub borrowed Tk 1 lakh from Nabab but he refused to repay the money at the end of 2009, said the complainant.

On March 9, 2010, Nabab filed a case accusing Ayub of breaching trust and not paying his money back.

On July 24, 2011, Rajshahi Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court sentenced Ayub to two years' imprisonment and fined Tk 20,000 in connection with the first charge. He was also jailed for five more years and fined Tk 30,000 as the second charge, too, was proven against him.

But after serving only 24 days in jail, Ayub managed to secure bail and appealed to the Sessions Judge's Court challenging the verdict. But the verdict was upheld on February 27, 2013.

Ayub was again sent to jail and this time after 28 days he again secured bail and appealed to the High Court challenging the verdict but the HC dismissed the appeal on January 13, 2016.

According to court documents, Ayub has been absconding since January 7, 2016.

Complainant Nabab alleged that police were dillydallying as Ayub has a connection with a local Awami League leader. But, he could not mention any name.

When contacted, General Secretary of Awami League Rajshahi city unit Dablu Sarker said, “None from the local Awami League leader can support Ayub as he is a cheat.”

When this correspondent contacted Officer-in-Charge of Boalia Police Station Nittya Pada Das, he said, “Forget what had happened before. Give us Ayub's current information, we will arrest him now.”

Nabab said, “I also met the deputy commissioner on June 14 and the Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner on June 19 at their respective offices. But nothing happened to Ayub.”

“It's me who has been suffering from the very beginning. First, I lost my money to Ayub, then again have to spend money, energy as well as time to continue the lengthy court procedures, but I have not got justice yet. However, the guilty is roaming without any fear and also earning money,” he added.

RMP acting commissioner Suzayet Islam told The Daily Star that police teams had been asked to arrest the convict immediately.

Refuting the allegation of influence of any AL leader, he further said, “This allegation is not true. The police must arrest every fugitive convict,” he said.

The Daily Star managed to reach Ayub over his cell phone last week but he refused to talk about the matter at that time.