Fugitive accused in 3 cases, Rangpur councillor Shiplu arrested

A fugitive accused in three casZakaria Alam Shiplu, the councillor of ward No 15 of Rangpur City Corporation and general secretary of Tajhat thana unit of the Awami League, was arrested following a five-and-a-half-hour operation late on Friday.

He was arrested from his sister-in-law's house in the Twenty Megawatt Power Plant area of Rangpur. 

Earlier at 5pm, acting on a tip-off, the police surrounded the house. They requested him to come out of the house time and time again but he refused to do so. From 5pm to 10pm, his supporters took up position in front of the house and started protesting by blocking the road. As they continued their protest, hundreds of policemen along with riot cars were stationed there.

In this situation, at 10:05pm Shiplu agreed to go to the police station with the police and went to Rangpur Kotwali police station in his car escorted by police vans.

At around 10:30pm, the councillor exited his car and walked directly to the room of the police station's officer-in-charge, Mahfuzar Rahman. Then, the door of that room was closed.

According to police, there are nine cases against Shiplu.

Dhaka Tribune

Among them, he was sentenced to one year for occupying the land of the Roads and Highways Department. Apart from this, he did not appear in court even after an arrest warrant was issued for him in three cases. For that reason, he has been arrested as per the order of the court's arrest warrant.

In this regard, Kotwali police station Inspector (Investigation) Hossain Ali said that there are arrest warrants against him by the court in three cases. 

He has been arrested following a court order, he added.

Zakaria Alam Shiplu, also a plaintiff of a case, filed with a cyber tribunal under the Digital Security Act (DSA) in Rangpur on Wednesday against Sarkar Majharul Mannan, staff reporter of Jamuna Television in Rangpur and two others.

He filed the case after Jamuna TV aired a report against him on April 1.

The report alleged that Shiplu grabbed land by forging documents and he was involved in drug trading. 

Following the complaint, Judge Abdul Mojid ordered the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to submit a report after investigation.

However, none of the police officials agreed to make comments in front of the camera.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Arif Hossain said that nothing can be said about this for now.

Meanwhile, more than a hundred supporters of Shiplu took positions in front of the police station demanding his release.