7 DB men suspended for ‘taking money using threats of crossfire’

Dhaka District police have suspended seven members of its Detective Branch for their alleged involvement in taking Tk 4.5 lakh in extortion from a businessman after ‘threatening to kill him in crossfire’.

“We suspended them yesterday [Thursday] upon receiving complaints of harassing a man. We are investigating the allegation,” said Maruf Hossain Sorder, superintendent of Dhaka District Police told The Daily Star.

They are sub-inspector Syed Mahmudul Islam, assistant sub-inspector Forhad Ali, constables—Mozammel, Jabbar, Sumon, Razib and Rasel.

A police source said the accused men detained Sohel—a businessman from South Keraniganj area—on Wednesday and extorted the amount.

They released him after the family gave them Tk 4.5 lakh, the source said quoting the complaint.

According to the complaint lodged by Sohel, a group of five to six people, identifying themselves as DB members, detained Sohel from Lalkuti area of Sutrapur while he was returning home from a market on Wednesday evening.

Blindfolded, he was put into a microbus and taken to a secret place, it said.

“They beat me mercilessly with sticks there,” Sohel said in his complaint.

At one stage, they demanded Tk 5 lakh as ransom, otherwise, they would kill him.

Finally, the alleged DB men released him from their custody at around 11:30pm on the day after receiving Tk 4.5 lakh from the family, the complaint reads.

"They also threatened to disappear me or my family members after killing or file a false case against us if we disclose the incident to anyone," added the complaint.

The suspended officials were contacted for comments, but could not be reached as of the filing of this report.