The members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested five members of a gang involved in snatching passports and extortion at the city’s Motijheel and Fakirerpool areas yesterday.
The detained are Sohel Hossain, Abdur Rahim, Abdullah Al Kaiyum, Saiful and Shahjahan. Six visa-stamped passports and 10 mobile phones were also recovered, Maj Sabbir Ahmed Siddique of Rab-3 told newsmen at a press briefing in the city’s Tikatuli area.
He claimed that several gangs were active in different parts of the capital snatching passports of those going abroad. The groups later demand a huge amount of money to return the passports to the owners.
For instance, the Rab official said, on April 19 a gang stole a passport, plane ticket and mobile phones from one Jahangir Alam in Motijheel. Later, they demanded Tk100,000 to return the items.
Maj Sabbir mentioned that following a complaint from Jahangir, members of the elite force conducted a raid in the city’s Fakirerpool, Mirpur and Farmgate areas and arrested the five suspects.
The Rab official also said legal action would be taken against the accused. The force was conducting further drives in different other parts of the capital to stop such practices.
