Md Joynal Abedin Khan :
An NSI official has allegedly demanded an extortion of Tk 2 crore from Manikganj Jewellery Shilpa Samity just one week ago of the sensational Nag Jewellers robbery.
The district jewellery shop traders made the allegation from a human chain on Dhaka- Aricha highway on Saturday. They said the robbery occurred at Nag Jewellers at Shwarnaker in the district town after Asif Chowdhury, Assistant Director of National Security Intelligence, demanded the extortion.
They demanded recovery of the looted gold and ornament immediately and proper investigation into the alleged extortion demand linking it the robbery, said Raghunath Roy, the General Secretary of the samity.
He also demanded proper immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the incident.
Around 200 jewellery shops under the samity remained shut on Saturday to protest against the robbery.
The traders expressed grave concern over the robbery and sought protection from the concerned authority.
“We are investigating the link of the robbery and other suspected person with the crime,” said Habibullah Sarker, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Manikganj Police Station.Raghunath Roy told The New Nation yesterday, “Asif demanded extortion of Tk 2 crore from the president of the samity. When he refused to pay the money, the NSI official then reduced the amount to Tk 70 lakh.”
Earlier, police arrested a robber along with some looted gold ornaments after a brief exchange of fire in Saturia bus stand area on Wednesday night.
Arrested Sohel Molla, 30, was involved with the Wednesday evening’s robbery at Nag Jewellers, said Mahfuzur Rahman, Superintendent of Police, Manikganj.
A microbus, a motorcycle, a foreign made pistol, six bullets, 11 cocktails and two machetes were also recovered, he said.
The SP said departmental action would be taken against the NSI official if he was involved with the extortion allegation.
