The police have seized four cheques for around Tk2.25 crore from the capital鈥檚 Nakhalpara home of Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad leader Abdur Razzaque Bin Solaiman Riyad, who is now in police custody in an extortion case.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police鈥檚 deputy commissioner for media and public relations, Md Talebur Rahman, revealed the information at a press briefing at the DMP media centre on Wednesday.
鈥楩our cheques for Tk 2.25 crore were seized from Riyad鈥檚 home in the Nakhalpara area. He is currently remanded in police custody. We are continuing our investigation,鈥� he said in response to a query.
Filing a case with Kalabagan police station in this regard was underway, he said.
Of the four cheques, two were for Tk 1 crore each, one for Tk 10 lakh, and one for Tk 15 lakh, Talebur said.
He, however, said that cheques bore neither the name of any recipient nor any date.
The account holder who signed the cheques is former Awami League lawmaker for Rangpur 6 constituency, Abdul Kalam Azad, added the police official.
The police official said that the police stations in the metropolitan area recorded cases over 33 incidents of robberies, 248 kidnappings, 154 murders, and 1,068 thefts between January and July this year.
On July 26, the police arrested five individuals, including Riyad, red-handed at the house of Shammi Ahmed, the international affairs secretary of the Awami League, while the youths had been collecting extortion money.
The victim, Siddique Abu Zafar, filed a case with Gulshan police station early Sunday, accusing six identified and 10 or 12 unidentified people.
Riyad and three other accused in the case are now facing interrogation by the police as they are remanded in police custody.
The three others who are now facing interrogation by the police in the case are Students Against Discrimination鈥檚 Dhaka north city convener Md Ibrahim Hossain Munna, 24, and members Md Sadkaun Siam, 22, and Sadman Sadab, 21.
The Students Against Discrimination spearheaded the 2024 July-August mass uprising that ousted the Awami League regime on August 5, 2024.
Following the arrest, the Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad expelled Riyad and the Students Against Discrimination expelled Munna, Siam, and Sadman Sadab.
According to the case statement, Riyad and absconding accused Kazi Gaurab Apu asked Siddique Abu Zafar to pay Tk 50 lakh in extortion and collected Tk 10 lakh of the amount earlier.
As the plaintiff refused to pay the rest of the amount, the extortionists threatened him, saying that they would hand him over to the police by tagging him as a collaborator of the fascists, the plaintiff said in the case statement.
The offenders went to the Gulshan house again at about 5:30pm on July 26 and demanded the remaining amount of Tk 40 lakh in extortion when the police caught them red-handed.
