Extortion Case: Two Kushtia Jubo League leaders held

Two Jubo League leaders were arrested in Kushtia on Friday night, hours after they were sued in an extortion case by a local contractor.

The arrestees are Mijanur Rahman Miju, 36, general secretary of Kushtia Sadar upazila Jubo League, and Ashraful Islam Sujon, 40, convener of Kushtia town unit.

A team of the Detective Branch of police picked up Mijanur from his home in Kushtia’s Hasanbag village around 11:30pm on Friday. Another DB team arrested Ashraful from his home in Kushtia town’s Kalishankarpur area around the same time, said DB sources.

Al Amin Joarder, who is running several construction works at Kushtia Islamic University, filed the case with Islamic University Police Station on Friday evening, accusing six people, including five named, of demanding Tk 50 lakh as extortion money.

The other named accused are Kushtia Sadar upazila BCL President Anisur Rahman Anis, former general secretary of IU Chhatra League Shamsuzzaman Tuhin and Jubo League leader Anisur Rahmn Bikash.

According to the case statement, Mijanur and Ashraful had been putting pressure on Al Amin for paying Tk 50 lakh as extraction money.

Campus sources said development works involving Tk 550 crore were underway at the university. Some ruling party men were influencing the authority’s decisions on awarding tenders.

Asked about the allegation of extortion, Kushtia district AL President Sadar Uddin Khan said the party follows “zero tolerance” policy against extortion and anyone involved in such a crime using the party’s name will not be spared from legal action.