Three BNP leaders in Tangail have been expelled from the party after being arrested in connection with an extortion attempt involving a threatening letter issued under the name "Killer Gang."
Two individuals arrested in connection with demanding Tk5 lakh in extortion from a fish trader in Tangail have confessed in court.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Badul Kumar Chando recorded their statements around 8:30pm on Saturday.
In addition, the court ordered that three other arrested leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) be sent to prison.
Those who gave confessional statements are Abdullah Al Mamun and Sabbir Hossain. The others are Zubayer, organising secretary of Tangail city BNP and general secretary of Ward No 7 BNP; Golam Rabbani, religious affairs secretary of the city BNP and president of Ward No 8 BNP; and Shah Alam, member of the city BNP and general secretary of Ward No 8 BNP.
Earlier, police brought the five arrestees to the Tangail court on Saturday afternoon. They had been detained in Santosh, within Tangail municipality, on Friday night and early Saturday.
Regarding the matter, Tangail police official Mizanur Rahman said that following the filing of the case, police first arrested Abdullah Al Mamun. During a search of his house, a laptop and printer were seized from his possession. Evidence of the extortion letter was found on the confiscated laptop.
Upon interrogating Mamun, police arrested four more individuals linked to the extortion. They were later presented before the Tangail court in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, in response to the incident, the BNP district unit expelled the three arrested party leaders from all posts and party membership. The announcement was made through a press release signed by BNP district unit President Hasanuzzamil Shahin and General Secretary Farhad Iqbal on Saturday evening.
On Thursday night, an unidentified individual handed a letter to an employee of fish trader Md Azaharul Islam in the Santosh area of Tangail Sadar upazila.
The employee handed the letter to Azaharul Islam the following morning. The letter demanded Tk5 lakh and threatened to kill him if he informed anyone or took legal action. A case was filed at the police station on Friday night in connection with the incident.
