ACC employee among four held by DB while extorting cash in Motijheel

Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested four people, including Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) employees while they were extorting cash from the Motijheel area in the city. 

The detectives also recovered four packets with Tk1.5 lakh kept inside packets of sweets, four mobile phones, one brown colour envelope with an ACC monogram and an ACC notice from the arrestee's possessions. 

The arrestees were identified as personal assistants of DG Money Laundering of ACC Gautam Bhattacharya, dismissed Policeman Habibur Rahman, Paritosh Mondal and Md Esken Ali Khan.

They were arrested by the special operation team of  DB Lalbagh Division on Friday morning in the Motijheel area of the capital. 

Based on secret information, a special operational team of DB (Lalbagh division) arrested them on Friday morning, said Additional Commissioner (DB) of the DMP Harun ur Rashid while briefing reporters at the DMP media centre on Saturday. 

During the briefing, the DB chief said Ashikuzzaman is a businessman in the Baitul Mukarram area of the capital. A man, introducing himself as an ACC officer, went to Ashikuzzaman's Uttara residence with a notice kept inside a khaki-coloured envelope bearing ACC's monogram on June 20 morning. Various allegations related to gold smuggling and money laundering were raised against Ashikuzzaman under the cover of the carpet business, he said. 

Ashikuzzaman got scared after hearing this complaint. Then the ACC officer pretended to show some sympathy to him and then advised him to turn off his mobile and go into hiding.  

The officer also said that DB, CID, Bangladesh Bank, ACC and NSI are looking for him in corruption-related issues. ACC has also already taken cognizance of a complaint related to corruption against him. 

The DB chief said that the gang then asked the victim Ashikuzzaman to come to a hotel in Motijheel with money in packets of sweets. DB (Lalbagh Division) was already conducting intelligence surveillance on this matter. Later they were arrested by the DB Special Operation Team when they came to the hotel to collect the demanded money, he said. 

A case has been filed with Motijheel police station in this regard.