A Dhaka court has placed the health directorate driver, Abdul Malek, who according to investigators has assets worth crores of taka, on a 14-day remand in two cases filed by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
Metropolitan Magistrate Sahidul Islam passed the order on Monday afternoon after the battalion personnel produced him before the court.
The elite police unit lodged the cases with the Turag police station in Dhaka this morning, bringing charges of dealing illegal firearms and counterfeit currencies against Malek.
Two investigators submitted separate petitions seeking seven-day remand for each case to interrogate Malek under their custody, said defence counsel GM Mizanur Rahman.
"The court allowed the investigators to quiz my client rejecting his bail petition," he added.
Earlier, RAB arrested Malek, 63, in Dhaka's Kamarpara area on Sunday for his involvement in various criminal activities.
They also recovered a foreign made pistol, a magazine, five bullets, and counterfeit notes worth Tk1.50 lakh from his possession.
A third class employee of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Malek accumulated wealth worth crores of taka by resorting to illegal means, RAB said.
According to the primary investigation of the battalion, Malek was allegedly involved in dealing illegal firearms and fake currencies, extortion and other criminal activities in the Turag area.
During interrogation, Malek confessed that he extorted a huge amount of money from common people by intimidating them with firearms, RAB said.
With an educational qualification of class eight, Malek first joined the Savar Health Project as a driver in 1982. In 1986, he started working as a driver at the transport pool of DGHS.
