He signed the statement not knowing its contents

Md Dulal, the complainant of the extortion case filed against road safety campaigner Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, yesterday said he signed a computer-typed paper without knowing what was written on it.

The Mirpur unit president and secretary of Bus-Minibus Sramik Committee were with him when the case was filed, Dulal told a private TV channel.

The Daily Star later came to know that the computer-typed paper was the case statement.

A lineman at a bus stop, Dulal maintains the serial number of buses near the entrance to National Zoo in Mirpur.

His wife Nasima said her husband can only sign and cannot read or write.

“They [president and secretary] asked my husband to put his signature on a paper and he complied. They even didn't read him out what was written on the paper,” she claimed.

Police arrested Mozammel, secretary general of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, a platform working for passengers' rights, from his Sanarpar house in Narayanganj on Thursday, two days after Dulal filed the case against him with Mirpur Police Station.

He was placed on one-day remand on Thursday.

The case statement read that Mozammel, claiming to be a transport leader, demanded Tk 2 lakh from Dulal.

Dulal gave Mozammel Tk 10,000 in front of Sony Cinema in Mirpur around 5:00pm on September 3, it said.

Delwar Hossain, Mirpur unit secretary of Bus-Minibus Sramik Committee, yesterday denied the allegation of forcing Dulal to sign the paper.

Talking to The Daily Star, he said being informed about the matter, he advised Dulal to take help from police and later came to know that Dulal filed the case.

Despite repeated attempts, this correspondent could not reach Abdur Rahim, Mirpur unit president of Sramik Committee, over the phone for comment.

This newspaper has obtained a copy of the case statement. It says 48-year-old Dulal, son of Nawab Ali, lives at House-9 of Road-18 in Gudaraghat under Shah Ali Police Station in Mirpur.

But in fact he lives at House-7 of Road-22 in Block-New C under the same police station.

Dadan Fakir, OC of Mirpur Police Station, said Dulal along with two to three others came to the police station on Tuesday to file the case.

Asked about Dulal's claim that he didn't know anything about the case, the OC said they were investigating his claim. 

Meanwhile, Human Rights Forum Bangladesh in a statement yesterday expressed deep concern over the arrest of Mozammel, saying he was held and placed on remand in a “false” case.