Sagar Biswas :
Members of the Rapid Action Battalion [RAB] have arrested two active members of an international crime syndicate in Mirzapur for their alleged involvement in kidnapping a Bangladeshi expatriate businessman in South Africa.
The elite force also recovered Tk 30 lakh from their possession, which was collected by them as ransom money, officials said on Tuesday.
A Bangladeshi businessman Mahabubur Rahman, who has been doing business in South Africa for a long time, was kidnapped in South Africa a few days ago and Tk 70 lakh was demanded as ransom money from his family in Bangladesh for his freedom. The kidnappers threatened the family members to pay full amount of the demanded money to get back the captive alive, they said.
Seeing no other way, the family members agreed to pay the money in installments. But the total arrangement was foiled when RAB came
to know about the multi-million taka illegitimate deal. Finally, a team of RAB-12 arrested two members of the crime syndicate on Monday night from Mirzapur along with the first installment [TK 30 lakh ransom money].
“One Suruj Mia of Ajibpur area under Siddhirganj thana in Narayanganj district lodged a complaint on September 4 saying that his brother-in-law Mahabubur Rahman was kidnapped in South Africa. He [Suruj Mia] got a phone call on August 29 from an unknown person who demanded Tk 70 lakh for setting free the hostage alive,” Company Commander of RAB -12 Mohiuddin Faruki said yesterday.
“The family members agreed to pay Tk 30 lakh in the first phase. A RAB team, in the guise of family members, talked with the abductors in South Africa over telephone. The kidnappers asked them to go to Bamanhati adalatpara near Dhaka-Mirzapur bypass road,” Mohiuddin Faruki further said.
Suruj Mia went to the place as directed by kidnappers along with Tk 30 lakh. Two members of kidnapping gang were waiting there for receiving ransom money. Suruj Mia identified them saying a code number. Then RAB arrested the two criminals along with the money.
Sources close to the RAB said that Monir Hossain, son of Kamal Hossain at Halpara village of Mirzapur and his accomplices abducted Mahabubur Rahman in South Africa. The abductors set the victim free on the street at Cape Town when RAB picked up Monir’s father and his associate Ziaur Rahman in Bangladesh.
During preliminary interrogation, the arrestees confessed to the RAB that they used to kidnap wealthy Bangladeshi nationals to get fat amount of ransom. At least ten persons have so far been kidnapped by the gang in the meantime where they earned several crores of taka.
There are several incidents of kidnapping of Bangladeshi nationals in South Africa where ransoms were paid here in local currency.
On February 4, a Bangladeshi businessman who was kidnapped in South Africa was freed after the arrest of a person in Dhaka and seizure of ransom money from him.
Police sources said expatriate businessman Md Shahidullah’s family paid Tk 5,00,000 in ransom after his abduction on January 2. The aggrieved family members filed a case over abduction on Jan 30 and police arrested Akbar Hossain, 29, from Jatrabarhi in connection with the incident.
Criminal Investigation Department [CID] officials said the abducted businessman was then rescued with the help of South African police in Sasolburg after paying ransom money in Dhaka. The arrested person during interrogation admitted that his brother-in-law Rajib was involved in the abduction in South Africa.
Several criminal groups are involved in abduction of Bangladeshi nationals abroad. Not only in South Africa, the kidnapping gangs are also active in Iran, Iraq, Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia and some other countries. Dhaka has started joint investigation with the related country to bust out the gangs, officials said.
“We’ve got enough evidences about involvement of Bangladeshi people in each and every case of abduction. Besides, one or more persons of the migrated country are also involved in the incidents,” CID Special Superintendent [organized crimes] Mirza Abdullah Hel Baki said.
Another sensational abduction occurred on June 2 last year when criminals kidnapped an owner of a departmental store Mohammad Nafis, hailed from Bhasanchar village at Goagachhia union under Gazariathana in Munshiganj district, from his business firm in South Africa. The kidnappers demanded Tk 7 lakh as ransom for Nafis’s release. The matter was informed foreign ministries of both countries.
At the same time, a case was also filed with Lalbagh Police Station in this connection. The kidnappers asked the victim’s family to deposit the money in the bank account of one Aleya. CID officials arrested Aleya when she went to the bank to withdraw the money. Later, the law enforcement agencies managed to nab all members of the criminal gang.
According to Wikipedia, kidnapping is a common crime in South Africa, with over 4,100 in the 2013/2014 period, and a child going missing every five hours.
Members of the Rapid Action Battalion [RAB] have arrested two active members of an international crime syndicate in Mirzapur for their alleged involvement in kidnapping a Bangladeshi expatriate businessman in South Africa.
The elite force also recovered Tk 30 lakh from their possession, which was collected by them as ransom money, officials said on Tuesday.
A Bangladeshi businessman Mahabubur Rahman, who has been doing business in South Africa for a long time, was kidnapped in South Africa a few days ago and Tk 70 lakh was demanded as ransom money from his family in Bangladesh for his freedom. The kidnappers threatened the family members to pay full amount of the demanded money to get back the captive alive, they said.
Seeing no other way, the family members agreed to pay the money in installments. But the total arrangement was foiled when RAB came
to know about the multi-million taka illegitimate deal. Finally, a team of RAB-12 arrested two members of the crime syndicate on Monday night from Mirzapur along with the first installment [TK 30 lakh ransom money].
“One Suruj Mia of Ajibpur area under Siddhirganj thana in Narayanganj district lodged a complaint on September 4 saying that his brother-in-law Mahabubur Rahman was kidnapped in South Africa. He [Suruj Mia] got a phone call on August 29 from an unknown person who demanded Tk 70 lakh for setting free the hostage alive,” Company Commander of RAB -12 Mohiuddin Faruki said yesterday.
“The family members agreed to pay Tk 30 lakh in the first phase. A RAB team, in the guise of family members, talked with the abductors in South Africa over telephone. The kidnappers asked them to go to Bamanhati adalatpara near Dhaka-Mirzapur bypass road,” Mohiuddin Faruki further said.
Suruj Mia went to the place as directed by kidnappers along with Tk 30 lakh. Two members of kidnapping gang were waiting there for receiving ransom money. Suruj Mia identified them saying a code number. Then RAB arrested the two criminals along with the money.
Sources close to the RAB said that Monir Hossain, son of Kamal Hossain at Halpara village of Mirzapur and his accomplices abducted Mahabubur Rahman in South Africa. The abductors set the victim free on the street at Cape Town when RAB picked up Monir’s father and his associate Ziaur Rahman in Bangladesh.
During preliminary interrogation, the arrestees confessed to the RAB that they used to kidnap wealthy Bangladeshi nationals to get fat amount of ransom. At least ten persons have so far been kidnapped by the gang in the meantime where they earned several crores of taka.
There are several incidents of kidnapping of Bangladeshi nationals in South Africa where ransoms were paid here in local currency.
On February 4, a Bangladeshi businessman who was kidnapped in South Africa was freed after the arrest of a person in Dhaka and seizure of ransom money from him.
Police sources said expatriate businessman Md Shahidullah’s family paid Tk 5,00,000 in ransom after his abduction on January 2. The aggrieved family members filed a case over abduction on Jan 30 and police arrested Akbar Hossain, 29, from Jatrabarhi in connection with the incident.
Criminal Investigation Department [CID] officials said the abducted businessman was then rescued with the help of South African police in Sasolburg after paying ransom money in Dhaka. The arrested person during interrogation admitted that his brother-in-law Rajib was involved in the abduction in South Africa.
Several criminal groups are involved in abduction of Bangladeshi nationals abroad. Not only in South Africa, the kidnapping gangs are also active in Iran, Iraq, Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia and some other countries. Dhaka has started joint investigation with the related country to bust out the gangs, officials said.
“We’ve got enough evidences about involvement of Bangladeshi people in each and every case of abduction. Besides, one or more persons of the migrated country are also involved in the incidents,” CID Special Superintendent [organized crimes] Mirza Abdullah Hel Baki said.
Another sensational abduction occurred on June 2 last year when criminals kidnapped an owner of a departmental store Mohammad Nafis, hailed from Bhasanchar village at Goagachhia union under Gazariathana in Munshiganj district, from his business firm in South Africa. The kidnappers demanded Tk 7 lakh as ransom for Nafis’s release. The matter was informed foreign ministries of both countries.
At the same time, a case was also filed with Lalbagh Police Station in this connection. The kidnappers asked the victim’s family to deposit the money in the bank account of one Aleya. CID officials arrested Aleya when she went to the bank to withdraw the money. Later, the law enforcement agencies managed to nab all members of the criminal gang.
According to Wikipedia, kidnapping is a common crime in South Africa, with over 4,100 in the 2013/2014 period, and a child going missing every five hours.
