2 more cases filed against Erfan Salim

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) filed two more cases on Wednesday against Erfan Salim, son of Awami League lawmaker Haji Md Salim, and his bodyguard Zahidul Islam for possessing illegal firearms and narcotics.

Meanwhile, a Dhaka court granted a 3-day remand for Erfan, the suspended councillor of Dhaka South City Corporation's (DSCC) ward-30, and Zahidul each in a case filed over assaulting a Navy officer.

Allegations are surfacing more against Haji Salim, the lawmaker from Dhaka-7 constituency, and his family over land grabbing and destruction of heritage sites. They have also allegedly amassed huge wealth through abuse of power.

In this regard, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has started collecting information about the wealth of Haji Salim and his son Erfan Salim.

"We are monitoring different media reports that say lawmaker Haji Salim and his son Erfan have made huge wealth abusing their power," ACC Commissioner Mozammel Haque Khan told reporters at the commission's head office in Dhaka on Wednesday.

He also said the commission would launch a formal inquiry against the duo if credible information about their illegal asset is found.

Erfan was suspended on Tuesday night as a DSCC councillor on charges of moral turpitude and misconduct.

Erfan had been running a crime racket from his monitoring rooms located on Debidas Gath Lane and in the 16-storied Madina Ashique Tower in Chawkbazar through walkie-talkie-based stations set up without any permission of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), said RAB officers after raiding his house and office.

Approached about Erfan's illegal communication network, BTRC sources said they did not provide any permission to the councillor as the communication network is usually permitted to organisations but not for personal use.

The source further said they would help law enforcement agencies in the investigation into the case of illegal communication network.

Meanwhile, local businessmen alleged they had been thrown out of their shops as the lawmaker's men bulldozed the market building to grab the land in the presence of policemen.

Earlier, RAB raided the residence and office of Erfan Salim on Monday following a case filed by Navy Lieutenant Wasif Ahmed Khan against Erfan and his associates for assaulting him on Sunday night when Erfan's car hit the officer's motorbike.