Joynal Abedin Khan :The extortion goes on unabated through joint connivance of police, ruling party men, miscreants and transport leaders across the country ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, according to DMP sources.They said at least 250 cases and general diaries (GDs) were filed in different police stations under Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in last 15 days. But most of the extortion incidents remain unregistered due to the victims’ security measures, they added.Meanwhile, members of law enforcing agencies have arrested over 300 miscreants in connection with extortion through conducting massive crackdown across the country with a view to relieving people from unabated extortion incidents, SM Zahangir Alam, Deputy Commissioner of the DMP, told The New Nation on Sunday.Even professional miscreants are also collecting extortion directly through bKash account and Dutch-Bangla mobile banking from the targeted people, he said. Meanwhile, State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said that the government will take tough action against the extortionists, including police and ruling party men.Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque on Sunday said law-enforcement agencies have taken all-out preparations to make the capital and highways fully free from extortion ahead of Eid.A good number of ruling party activists, its pro-organizations-Jubo League and Chhatra League-are passing busy time for collecting extortion from businessmen, transport owners, different professionals and houses across the country, it is alleged. A section of police personnel have engaged themselves in collecting money as extortion from the people for the last few weeks by showing the power of arms, arrest business, filing false cases and so on evil activities.Around 1,200 extortionists, including three hundred listed miscreants, are engaged in collecting extortion in city, DMP sources said. Besides, the extortionists are repeatedly threatening to death, grabbing the business institutions, houses, lands and shops to realise their demand, added the sources. Meanwhile, a good number of leaders and activists of the ruling party have been suspended for their involvement in the extortion.In the backdrop, a top leader of Jubo League who has been arrested by Rapid Action Battalion during extortion was expelled on Sunday.Rezaul Karim Reza, 45, Acting General Secretary of the Jubo League’s Dhaka South unit, has been temporarily expelled from Jubo League for extortion, said Iqbal Mahmud, Publications Secretary of the JL. Members of RAB-10 caught Reza red-handed while extorting money from a shop at Tikatuli Market on July 9, 2015. But later he was released. A mobile court conducted by Rapid Action Battalion detained Rezaul Karim and 10 others Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League activists from Rajdhani Super Market on July 9. Later, they had to release him under political pressure. But other 10 leaders of Awami League, Jubo League, and Chhatra League were sent to jail for different terms. The businessmen claimed that the Reza and his party men cut the electricity connection at the market. The gang’s target of extortion was Tk 15 crore ahead of the Eid. RAB-10 Director Jahangir Hossain Matubbar said that they were having the complaints about the extortion since three months. In Sayedabad, another extortionist gang has planned that they would collect extortion Tk three crore from 600 shops at Sayedabad Super Market ahead of the Eid.In Panthapath, a ruling party councillor demanded Tk one crore from Josna Ara Begum, Deputy-Management Director of Metro Homes Limited in Panthapath on June 29. The councillor and his some associates halted the construction work as she refused to pay the money, said Nurul Islam, General Manager of the Multi-purpose Developer Company. At Nawabpur Road, an electronic businessman claimed that he had to pay Tk five lakh in three steps during the Ramzan.On July 8, police picked up two leaders of Jubo League and Chhatra League after they scuffled with the law enforcers at Binodpur in Rajshahi city.Protesting the police action, activists of the two organisations blocked the Rajshahi-Dhaka highway near Binodpur for around 15 minutes, said witnesses.The two leaders are Mehedi Hasan Yamin, general secretary of city Jubo League’s Ward-30 unit and Ekhlasur Rahman Saddam, Environment Affairs Secretary of the city BCL unit.On the other hand, the massive extortion in the name of Eid bonus started on various routes, including Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Kurigram, Dhaka-Bogra, Dhaka-Khulna, Dhaka-Rajshahi and Dhaka-Sylhet, sources said.Transport leaders in the name of 200 workers unions and 70 owners associations and local goons are engaged in reckless extortion-spree ahead of Eid, rendering the passengers helpless, they said.Meanwhile, at least 80 police personnel have been closed and sacked from different police units in the last four weeks. On Sunday, an extortion case was filed against two members of Jatrabari Police Station. An engineer filed the case with the court for collecting extortion and assaulting him in his office. The accused are Sub-Inspector Azad and Constable Mokhlesur Rahman, said Abni Sankar Kar, Officer-in-Charge of the police station.Police suspended three constables of the Special Branch (SB) and Detective Branch (DB) and arrested them on charges of extortion in Khagrachhari yesterday. They are SB’s ‘Firoz’ and ‘Moniruzzaman’, and DB’s ‘Hafiz’, said Khagrachhari’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Mohammad Mazid Ali.He said that it was established during the preliminary investigation that they had extorted Tk 20,000 from Ganjparha’s Keching Marma and his wife Mapru Marma.He said, “The constables went to their house on July 8 and threatened them that Keching would be arrested in a drug-related case, if they did not pay Tk 50,000. The couple later paid them Tk 20,000.”On Saturday, two police officials in the city were suspended from their duties for alleged involvement in extortion.The SI Abdul Baten and ASI Imrul Kayes had been taken off duty for being involved in the extortion of hawkers on the footpaths of the Mirpur Section-1 neighbourhood, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Media) Muntasirul Alam.Earlier, a case was filed against 18 people, including two Sub-Inspectors (SI) of Pallabi Police Station. The police officials are Zahidul Islam and Zubayer Hossain. The victim Laboni claimed in the case that the accused demanded Tk one lakh and she paid Tk 50 thousand.
