Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Gazipur seized a government issued vehicle belonging to the Sherpur Municipality Mayor Abdus Sattar with phensedyl in it.
On August 1, RAB 4 members acting on a tip-off chased the vehicle in Gazipur’s Konabari area and seized 502 bottles of phensedyl, and Tk43,000 cash from inside, confirmed Sherpur police station OC Humayun Kabir.
They also arrested three men identified as the driver Nur Alam Munnaf, 25, Nuruzzaman Nur, 35, and Atiqur Rahman, 26.
RAB 4 Captain Tafsir Tarafdar filed a case with the Konabari police station the next day.
This incident sparked widespread criticism among locals about Abdus Sattar, who is also the Awami League President of the Sherpur upazila unit in Bogra.
According to Sattar’s family members, Sattar went to visit his sick wife in Dhaka. There, his driver Munnaf took out the car saying he was going to the mechanic, and went to Dinajpur Hili border to pick up the contraband. The car was intercepted by RAB on the way back to Dhaka.
Locals suspect that Sattar’s son, Mostafizur Rahman Ripon, a drug addict, was involved in the incident and that he made his escape before the arrest. Others say, he was arrested but was released upon requests from influential people.
Councillor Badrul Islam Poddar, of Sherpur Municipality Ward no 2, said: “It was a known fact that the mayor’s car was used to smuggle phensedyl. The mayor was notified of the matter at a meeting. His negligence led to the seizure of his vehicle.
He added that this was an insult to the people of the municipality and asked the law authorities to arrest whoever was behind the incident.
Meanwhile, Mayor Sattar’s son Ripon rejected the allegation and said: “Councillor Bobby is conspiring against me as he failed to become the panel mayor of the municipality.”
Sherpur police station OC Humayun Kabir said: “We know about Ripon being a drug addict. But it is still unclear if he was involved in the incident.”
