The arrested individuals are Biplab Khan (33), Farin Tanha alias Tofa (29), Shampa Akter (24), Shah Mohammad Jobayer alias Abik (23), Al-Masud (32), Monika Akter (18), and Abu Sufiyan (27).
According to a DMP DB press release, on August 13, Mohammad Rahman from Shariatpur and Monir Uddin from Bandarban were admitted to the SPC Therapy Center on Nurjahan Road, Mohammadpur, due to health issues. Sharing adjacent beds, they developed a rapport. Rahman, a driver, and Monir, a translator at a Chinese project in Cox’s Bazar, were seeking employment. On August 19, Monir directed Rahman to contact a number from a Facebook job ad for a driver position.
That evening, Rahman and Monir met a youth at 60 Feet Barekmollar area in Mirpur. After a job discussion, they were taken by a battery-operated auto-rickshaw to the sixth floor of a building in Shewrapara. There, they were confined, assaulted, and recorded on video with three women beside them. The fraudsters extorted 11,000 Taka in cash, 55,000 Taka via mobile banking, and seized Rahman’s phone and Monir’s two phones, threatening to viral the video and harm them if reported.
The incident came to the DB Mirpur Division’s attention, leading to a raid that resulted in seven arrests. One of Monir’s phones was recovered, along with three more seized from the suspects. The arrested individuals confessed to long-term fraud using Facebook, IMO, and Telegram to lure victims with job offers and extort money. The syndicate continued due to victims’ reluctance to report out of shame.
