Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity Secretary General Mozammel Haque Chowdhury has claimed that he was harassed because he stood up for the rights of the passengers.
"I always talk about passengers’ rights. I became a victim of the vengeance of those who oppose me – a few rogue transportation owners and labour organizations. They influenced the government to keep me under pressure," he alleged on Saturday.
Police arrested him on September 5 in Nayaranganj on charges of extortion. A person named Dulal, from the transport sector, filed the case, alleging that Mozammel had demanded Tk2 lakh as extortion from him.
Although Mozammel was granted bail on September 11, it soon became uncertain, after police appealed for a warrant to arrest him in another case under the Explosive Substances Act.
Later, a Dhaka court denied the appeal, ensuring Mozammel's freedom.
The passenger welfare association leader claimed that police also threatened to accuse him in 40 cases for speaking in support of passenger rights.
When reporters asked him the names of those who harassed him, Mozammel said: "You and I both know who the actual offenders are. I do not need to name them."
Although the goals of the Jatri Kalyan Samity and the government are aligned, to serve their own interests, transport leaders manipulated the government to create a distance between the two parties, Mozammel alleged.
He claimed that the extortion case filed against him is false, saying: "A person who did not even know me filed the case. When I asked police why they were arresting me from my residence around 3am, they said it was under the deputy commissioner's instructions."
Mozammel said his address was kept hidden in the case statements. "After my arrest, on the day of my remand, Officer In-charge (OC) of Mirpur police station Md Dadon Fakir threatened to file 40 cases against me if I continued reporting to the media," he claimed.
Police also brought allegations that Mozammel was involved with Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir.
Denying the allegations of extortion and political involvement, Mozammel said: "I am the Dhaka bureau head of a Chittagong-based newspaper. I earn my money from there, and by attending a few talk shows. This is how I get by. I am not involved in any kind of politics or extortion."
When contacted, OC Dadon Fakir denied Mozammel's accusations, saying that he had not threatened the Jatri Kalyan Samity leader with anything.