Man arrested for posing as Mirza Fakhrul on Facebook to extort money

Thakurgaon police have arrested a man for allegedly operating a fake Facebook account impersonating BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in an attempt to extort money.

The arrest was made during a drive in the Beradoma area of Tangail Sadar upazila yesterday morning.

The arrestee has been identified as Haydar Rahman Joy, 20, confirmed Sub-Inspector (SI) Nur-e-Alam of Thakurgaon Sadar Police Station, who is also the investigation officer of the case.

Later in the evening, Joy was produced before the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Md Shariful Islam, who granted a three-day remand.

According to SI Nur, the accused had been demanding money from individuals by falsely promising party nominations for the upcoming national elections or promising influential posts within the party.

A case was filed against him by local BNP leader Nur-e-Sahadat Sajan on behalf of Fakhrul, the SI added.

On May 21, police arrested another individual Sahidul Islam from Dimla upazila in Nilphamari, for running a fake Facebook profile in the name of Mirza Faisal Amin, Fakhrul's younger brother and general secretary of BNP's Thakurgaon district unit.