CTTC arrests ‘Helicopter Rubel’ for swindling money by claiming to be NGO official

Members of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) yesterday arrested Md Rubel Ahmed alias Helicopter Rubel for his involvement in swindling money from the public by claiming to be an NGO official.

The arrestee, Rubel (36), would visit different areas on a helicopter saying he wants to become partners with different people in a project he was involved in with the foreign NGO -- Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC).

Towhidul Islam, additional deputy commissioner of CTTC, told The Daily Star that Rubel was arrested from a house in Sector-16 of Uttara.

The Economic Crime and Human Trafficking Division of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) said the man would introduce himself as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CCIC. He was arrested on the basis of a case filed at the airport police station.

As per the case statement, Rubel Ahmed hailed from Shariatpur district.

He visited Betbaria UP area No 3 under Khoksa Police Station in Kushtia district with seven to eight associates to prepare a list of families affected by climate change to provide them housing, construct schools, construct dams to protect against river erosion, provision to make deep tube wells among farmers and give medical aid to the needy.

Initial investigations revealed that he would cheat ordinary people. He used a helicopter to travel from Dhaka to prove himself as a top NGO official and instill faith in people's minds, according to CTTC.

Preliminary information has revealed that he has swindled crores of taka from several districts, including Kushtia, Magura and Khaghrachari.

Various documents including application for help, list of names of houses provided to the destitute, list of CCIC project implementation committee, approval letters and vouchers for purchase of electronics and financial statements of CCIC have been recovered from the arrested.