Their tactic: inhumane torture
Two members of Iraq-based syndicate, who abducted expats for ransom, held in Dhaka; two victims rescued
Twenty-seven-year-old Apel Ali went to Iraq on February 26, 2018, and started working at a hotel in Baghdad.
Things were going fine for him, until June 14 this year.
Around 11:15am, Apel called his wife Shilpi Khatun and informed her that some Bangladeshi expatriates in Iraq kidnapped him and were torturing him for a ransom of Tk 1 lakh.
The kidnappers provided some numbers with mobile financial service (MFS) accounts in Bangladesh and instructed Apel's family to deposit the money. As per the demand, they made the deposit in the evening.
However, the deal was not over yet for them. The syndicate did not release Apel as promised. Instead, they called his wife Shilpi again and asked for another deposit. This time, the demand amounted to Tk 5 lakh.
Apel's father then sought assistance from the economic and human trafficking team of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit. CTTC started investigating and managed to arrest two members of the syndicate from the capital's Motijheel and Narayanganj district on Monday.
Arrestee Imran Hossain (27) is a Bangladeshi agent of the syndicate -- responsible for collecting money through MFS. Another arrestee Alamgir Hossain (30) is an associate of Imran in the ransom collection.
Following the arrest, the syndicate was finally forced to release Apel and another Bangladeshi victim Sher Ali. The two victims are currently under the custody of the Bangladeshi embassy in Iraq.
CTTC, from the information collected from the recently released victims, came to know that the syndicate has held at least seven more Bangladeshi victims captive.
Confirming the development, Tohidul Islam, CTTC additional deputy commissioner, told this correspondent yesterday that efforts are now underway to rescue the other victims.
"We are also trying to identify other syndicate members in Bangladesh," he said.
A case was filed regarding the arrest with Motijheel Police Station on Tuesday.
UNBEARABLE TORTURE
Investigators said these syndicates have been involved in abducting Bangladeshis in Iraq and torturing them for ransom for a long time.
According to the two rescued victims, they were subjected to inhumane physical torture. Often they would leave them with little to no food or water for two to three days at a stretch.
But that's not where it stops. The two victims informed the investigators that syndicate members have even killed multiple victims by pushing them off the roof after not getting the ransom money from their family members.
However, the official investigating the case said they are yet to verify the claim.
FIVE MILLION IN RANSOM PER MONTH
Investigators found over Tk 7 lakh has been collected by arrestee Imran alone in the last one month, according to some bank documents and MFS transaction history seized from him.
Investigators have also managed to identify four others involved with the syndicate, named Bablu, Jehad, Foysal and Maruf.
Through the information provided by the rescued victims, investigators claimed that the amount collected as ransom by the entire syndicate in the last month amounts to Tk 5 million.
However, the real amount is much higher as the syndicate has a connection and members in all the districts of the country, said a CTTC high official involved with the investigation.
"They are also involved in human trafficking. They used to send people to Iran, Turkey and Greece by illegal means," said the official, requesting anonymity.
"We have collected some names and information regarding the syndicate's activities in Gaibandha, Brahmanbaria, Chattogram, Narayanganj, Chandpur and Munshiganj, which we are currently analysing," he said.
Sources said in 2012, Imran went to Qatar and then came back to Bangladesh after seven years. The other members of the syndicate are his close relatives.
Shehab Uddin, one of the masterminds of the syndicate, went to Iraq in July last year and now leading the illegal activities.
The investigators did not disclose the names of other syndicate members as the investigation is still ongoing.
"We have also been tipped that some Pakistani and Iraqi nationals are also involved with the syndicate. We are trying to verify the information," said another official of the CTTC unit, requesting anonymity.
The official said the syndicate confines people at a place located just 30 minutes away from Baghdad's centre. "It would be possible to run these activities in such a locality without involving locals," the officer added.