The Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Friday arrested Jan e Alam Apu, also known as Kazi Gourav, expelled joint convener of the Bangladesh Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad, in connection with an extortion case.
Jan e Alam, the second named accused in the case, was arrested from the capital鈥檚 Wari area in the morning, DMP deputy commissioner for media and public relations Muhammad Talebur Rahman said at a press briefing at the DMP media centre on Friday.
The arrest was made six days after Jan e Alam fled the scene of the extortion incident during a police raid as five others were caught red-handed at Gulshan on July 26 when they were allegedly collecting extortion money from the house of Shammi Ahmed, the international affairs secretary of Awami League, identifying themselves as Students Against Discrimination coordinators.
The Students Against Discrimination spearheaded the 2024 July mass uprising that ousted the authoritarian Awami League regime on August 5, 2024.
Replying to a query, Talebur said, 鈥楶olice are investigating whether anyone else was involved in the incident. Investigation is also under way to determine if there were other motives for the incident.鈥�
With Jan e Alam, six named accused in the case filed over taking extortion money have been arrested and four of them are currently on police remand.
Earlier on July 30, the DMP said that police recovered four cheques for Tk聽2.25 crore from expelled Ganatantrik Chhatra Sangsad leader Abdur Razzaque Bin Solaiman Riyad, who is currently in police custody.
The three others undergoing police interrogation are Students Against Discrimination鈥檚 Dhaka north city convener Md Ibrahim Hossain Munna, and members Md Sadkaun Siam and Sadman Sadab.
They were all expelled from their posts following the extortion case.
The victim, Siddique Abu Zafar, Shammi鈥檚 husband, filed the case with the Gulshan police early Sunday, accusing six identified and 10 or 12 unidentified people.
According to the case statement, Riyad and Jan e Alam on July 17 asked Siddique to pay Tk聽50 lakh in extortion and they collected Tk聽10 lakh of the amount on July 19.
Police caught five, including Riyad, red-handed when they went to the house to collect the remaining Tk聽40 lakh on July 26, but Jan e Alam fled the scene.
