A Dhaka court on Friday placed four people, including expelled Jubo Dal leader Ferdous Ahmed Saimon, on remand in a case filed over allegedly beating a man and firing blank shots after he refused to pay Tk50,000 in extortion in Bangla Motor area.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Israt Jahan passed the remand order after a hearing in the afternoon, granting 4 days’ remand for Saimon, the prime accused, and 3 days each for the other 3 accused.
The other accused sent to remand are Omar, 32, Morshed, 25, and Md Shaon, 25. SI Arif Reza of the prosecution department confirmed the matter.
He said there was no lawyer present for the accused during the remand hearing.
Earlier on Friday, SI Md Nasim, investigation officer of Hatirjheel police station, produced the accused before the court and sought 7 days’ remand for each in the interest of a proper investigation.
According to the case statement, at around 7:15pm on Thursday, October 1, the accused stopped plaintiff Md Sohan in front of a house in the New Eskaton area of Bangla Motors under Hatirjheel police station.
The case statement alleges that prime accused Ferdous Ahmed Saimon demanded Tk50,000 in extortion from him. When Sohan refused to pay, Saimon allegedly pulled out a pistol, pointed it at his chest and attempted to shoot him.
At one point, Saimon allegedly struck Sohan on the head with the butt of the pistol, while the other accused also beat him. The accused left the scene after people nearby approached.
The injured Sohan received first aid at a local pharmacy. Later, while he was travelling for further treatment, his brother-in-law Md Moktar Hossain joined him.
At that time, Saimon and the other accused allegedly arrived at the scene on motorcycles and again attempted to beat Sohan. Moktar Hossain was also allegedly beaten when he tried to intervene, according to the case statement.
The remand application states that Saimon fired 3 blank shots from the pistol at that time. Local people then chased and detained several of the accused.
Saimon was also detained when he attempted to flee. Police from Hatirjheel police station went to the scene after being informed and took them into custody.
Later, victim Md Sohan filed the case with Hatirjheel police station.
The remand application further states that preliminary investigation found the arrested accused to be active members of an organized extortion and criminal group.
The application said the accused needed to be interrogated on remand to identify the identities and whereabouts of others involved, arrest absconding accused and recover other information related to the case.
The police remand application also stated that the arrested accused have several drug cases filed with Hatirjheel and Kalabagan police stations.
