UP chairman arrested on extortion charge

A union parishad chairman was arrested on Wednesday night on charge of demanding money from his rivals.

The arrestee is Md Hanif Khan, chairman of Kadamtala Union Parishad (UP) in Sadar upazila.

Some UP members had obstructed Hanif from giving rice meant for the genuine fishermen to some fake fishermen.

Five UP members came under attack, allegedly by Hanif's men, in his parishad office on October 22 as he had a conflict with some of them over distributing rice allotted for the fishermen during the 22-day ban on catching fish, said Pirojpur Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) SM Ziaul Haque.

Md Sohel Khan, one of the UP members, was hacked mercilessly and is undergoing treatment in Dhaka.

Sohel's father Md Jafar Ali Khan filed a case on October 26 against 20 identified and five to seven unidentified men, with Hanif as the main accused. 

To avoid arrest, Hanif took interim bail from High Court recently.

 On October 31, Hanif demanded Tk 5 lakh from Jafar for fighting the case filed against him (Hanif), the OC said.

Jafar filed another case with the police station against five named and five to seven unnamed men the  same  day, making Hanif the main accused.

“After arresting Hanif, we produced him before a court that sent him to jail,” the OC said.