Police have arrested a Union Parishad member in a case filed against him for torturing a woman after garlanding her with shoes at Mollahat upazila in Bagerhat.

Kawsar Chowdhury, an elected member of Ward-1 of Chunkhola Union Parishad of the upazila, was arrested from Srigati village in the upazila this afternoon, said Bagerhat Additional Superintendent of Police Md Asaduzzaman.

Earlier, a case was filed against naming nine people and four to five more unnamed at Mollahat Police Station. Police said operations are underway to nab the other accused in the case.

Legal action will be taken against anyone found guilty in the investigation, said the ASP.

Meanwhile, before the arrest, UP member Kawsar held a meeting in the locality yesterday afternoon to resolve the issue. In the presence of dignitaries of the area, Kawsar confessed his crime and apologized to the housewife. And a video of him apologizing has already spread on social media Facebook.

Earlier on Tuesday, a 30-year-old Bagerhat woman was garlanded with shoes and then tortured reportedly by the UP member with a bamboo twig accusing her of having an extramarital affair with a close relative.

The housewife alleged that they also snatched her gold ornaments she was wearing and a cellphone set worth around Tk 95,000.