Female ‘mafia boss,’ ‘cohorts’ held from Dhaka airport
According to the elite force, Peu opened a non-profit organisation in Narsingdi and used poor women in the sex trade.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested four persons from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka and seized counterfeit notes, foreign currencies and around Tk2.5 lakh from their possessions on Saturday afternoon.
The arrestees were identified as Shamima Noor Papiya alias Peu, 28, her husband Mofizur Rahman alias Sumon Chowdhury alias Moti Sumon, 38, Sabbir Khandaker, 29, and Sheikh Taiyaba, 22, said Lt Col Shafiullah Bulbul, commanding officer of RAB-1.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of RAB-1 arrested them when they were trying to flee the country.
In addition to the fake notes and currencies, they had seven passports in their possession, Lt Col Shafiullah told reporters during a press briefing at RAB Media Centre in the capital.
The RAB claimed that Papiya forced girls into prostitution and was also involved in arms and drug trades.
According to the elite force, she opened a non-profit organisation in Narsingdi and used poor women in the sex trade.
The RAB official claimed that she also has a torture cell in Narsingdi.
A president suite at Westin Hotel in the capital's Gulshan has been booked by her name for a long time.
The RAB claimed that Papiya's husband Sumon is a businessman. They have automobile business. He helped his wife in her illegal activities. He also owns a bar in Thailand.
"Although her yearly income from automobile business is Tk19 lakh, the record says that she paid over Tk2.5 lakh a day only at the bar of Dhaka Westin," the official said.
