Arav Khan vents anger over Star report
Rabiul Islam, better known as Arav Khan, cursed The Daily Star and urged his followers to report the link of the newspaper's report on his swindling AED 425,500 (about Tk 1.46 crore) out of 10 Bangladeshi expatriates.
He also instructed his Facebook followers to post video messages portraying him as a man of virtues.
In two audio recordings obtained by the newspaper, Rabiul was heard saying he wants all his friends to make videos proclaiming there is no better human being than him.
He also urged them to mention that they are beneficiaries of Rabiul's generosities at various points and that he donates generously to mosques, orphanages and old-age homes.
Rabiul also requested them to denounce journalists in the video.
On November 18 last year, 10 Bangladeshi expatriates lodged a complaint with the Bangladesh consulate in Dubai and sought the mission's intervention to get back their money from Rabiul.
Rabiul is wanted by the Bangladesh government over the murder of Special Branch inspector Mamun Emran Khan at a Banani flat on July 8, 2018, and in another arms case.
Rabiul, who hails from Gopalganj, lives in Dubai as an Indian citizen.
According to the complaints, Arav embezzled AED 178,000 from Tariqul Islam, AED 131,000 from Aynal Sipat Ali, AED 37,500 from Yousuf Ali, AED 31,500 from Mohammad Rafsan Jani, AED 25,000 from Hasan Khan, AED 10,000 from Istiaque Ahmed, AED 12,500 from Md Shabbir and AED 5,000 from Sarwar Ahmed.
As of now, it appears that the 10 Bangladeshis are unlikely to recover the sum given the grey area about Rabiul's nationality. Rabiul fled to India after a case was filed against him over Mamun's murder, assumed the name of Arav Khan and took on Indian citizenship.
On the advice of BM Jamal Hossain, the consul general of the Bangladesh mission in Dubai, the victims filed a complaint with the consulate general of India in Dubai but to no avail.
Meanwhile, the newspaper got hold of another video in which Rabiul can be seen accosted by several of his victims, all demanding their money back. In response, Rabiul can be heard saying he would soon return their money through cheques.
The video was from November 26 last year during the opening of Arav Mobile Point in Dubai.
Rabiul catapulted to the public eye after he managed to get cricketer Shakib Al Hasan and other celebrities to attend the launch event of his jewellery store named Arav Jewellers in March last year.
The jewellery store has shuttered and he opened a travel agency named Arav Khan Travels since then. His victims say he is defrauding unwitting people by offering fake visas to different European and North American countries through the travel agency.