TDS Desk:

A case has been filed against five persons, including former Army Chief General (Retd) Aziz Ahmed and former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed for demanding Tk100 crore as extortion from businessmen in 2019.

Salim Prodhan, Chairman of Japan-Bangladesh Security Printing and Papers, filed the case on Thursday with the court of Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Md Ali Haider.

The other three accused in the case are Haris Ahmed and Tofail Ahmed alias Joseph, both brothers of General (Retd) Aziz and Lt Col. Shafiullah Bulbul, former Commanding Officer (CO) of RAB-3.

Upon the hearing, the magistrate recorded the statement of the complainant and directed the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Police to submit an investigation report within the shortest possible time.

Salim Prodhan in his complaint mentioned that the then RAB-3 official Shafiullah Bulbul following an order of the then IGP Benazir and Army Chief Gen (Retd) Aziz Ahmed went to his Gulshan residence on 7 September 2019 and demanded a ‘Range Rover’ jeep as extortion. The RAB official again on 24 September went to the residence of Selim Prodhan and demanded Tk100 crore as extortion. Otherwise, he was threatened with being accused in a casino case.

The complainant said the RAB official along with his team picked him up from a Thailand-bound aircraft at Hazrat Shahjalal Airport and forcibly took him to the RAB-1 office on 30 September of the same year. The team led by Shafiullah Bulbul tortured him mercilessly and threatened to kill him if he failed to give a Range Rover jeep and Tk100 crore as extortion, Selim Prodhan said, adding that they also snatched away his belongings, including dollars worth about Tk10 crore from him.