Anti-Graft Drive: DNCC ward councillor held in city

Rab last night arrested a councillor of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) in the capital’s Bashundhara Residential Area on charges of his involvement in extortion and land grabbing.

Rab officials said they held Tarequzzaman Rajib from one of his friends’ home around 11:00pm in a raid carried out as part their ongoing drive against graft.

Rajib is the councillor of ward-33, which covers part of Mohammadpur area. He is also a joint general secretary of Jubo League’s Dhaka north unit.

Rab officials also claimed to have seized seven bottles of foreign liquor, an illegal pistol, three bullets and Tk 33,000 in cash during the drive yesterday.

Following the arrest, Rab members started raiding Rajib’s home in Mohammadpur. The drive was underway when this report was filed around 2:00am today.

“Rajib was hiding. We were looking for him for the last several days following some specific allegations against him. We raided the house in Bashundhara on information that he was there since October 13,” said Rab-1 Commanding Officer Lt Col Sarwar Bin Kashem, who led the drive.

While briefing reporters at the house, he said Rajib was involved in several crimes, including extortion, land grabbing and tender manipulation.

Rab Executive Magistrate Sarwoer Alam, who was present during the drive, told the newspaper that they were interrogating Rajib about his alleged involvement in the crimes.

Recently, several media outlets have run reports saying the councillor is involved in various illegal activities.

About six years ago, Rajib used to live in a small room on the ground floor of an apartment in Mohammadpur. He worked as an assistant of his carpenter father and ran a small tea stall in the area, according to the reports.

But his days changed after he joined the politics of Jubo League, the youth wing of the ruling Awami League. He was elected the ward councillor in 2014.

Currently, he owns a duplex apartment in the same area, owns several cars and assets worth crores, according to media reports.

The reports also said he faces multiple cases filed with different police stations.