4 Rab members arrested in city
Police arrested four Rab members in the capital's Hatirjheel yesterday on charges of abducting, torturing, and demanding ransom from a man.
Police said there are three other suspects, one of whom, a civilian woman, got arrested as well.
The arrested men were handed their force after a case was filed with Hatirjheel Police Station, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Shafiqul Islam.
But their names and designations were not mentioned in the case.
"They kidnapped a man and demanded ransom. Police held two of the accused at the scene, after the man's sister informed them. Three more were detained later," he added.
Police sources said seven people were found involved in the incident.
The civilian woman named Ranu Begum was placed on a two-day remand by a Dhaka court.
Subrata Debnath, who is investigating the case, applied to the court, requesting that the accused men be tried under the laws of the forces they belong to.
Police officers with knowledge of the incident said the accused men demanded Tk 2 crore from the victim and eventually settled for Tk 12 lakh. Police held two of them with the money in a CNG-run auto rickshaw.
According to the case filed by victim Tamzid Hossain's sister, the incident took place on Thursday after the 27-year-old left their Mirbagh home for Uttara.
Around 12:00pm, a man called his sister introducing himself as a high official of Rab and claimed that Tamzid was in their custody.
"Don't tell the DB or police. If you do, your brother will be dead," the complaint quoted the man as saying on the phone.
"Around 1:30pm, the man informed me that senior officers were interrogating my brother. He will be accused in arms and narcotics cases… Asked at which Rab office did they take my brother, he said that they can't tell that. He [her brother] may also [die] in crossfire. 'If you want to save your brother, be ready with Tk 2 crore'," read the complaint.
The man on the phone also let the plaintiff hear her brother's screams as he was being tortured. Tamzid then told her that he was blindfolded right after he was picked up. "My brother begged for his life…"
Later, two-three other men called her from the same number and wanted to know whether she had the cash.
"I told them that we were poor people. How would we have that kind of money? At one point, the man, claiming to be a Rab official, demanded Tk 15 lakh. When I said that we don't have any money, he told me to go to Jamuna Future Park with Tk 12 lakh in cash and warned me not to tell the DB or police. Or else, they will kill my brother," the case statement read.
Around 3:30pm, she received a phone call from her brother's number.
"Crying, he said he was severely beaten up and was asked to give them [the abductors] the ransom. When I wanted to know his location, he said that his hands and legs were tied and he was blindfolded… he could not identify the location."
Rab Legal and Media Wing Director Commander Khandaker Al Moin told The Daily Star that he heard about the incident.
"Hatirjheel police detained them. We also saw the DMP Commissioner's comment on this. We are investigating the incident. After the probe, if any of our members are found guilty, we will take strict action," he said.
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