The National Citizen Party (NCP) has suspended its Chittagong city Joint Coordinator, Nizam Uddin, after a video of him demanding extortion money went viral.
The suspension was announced in a statement signed by the party’s Joint Member Secretary (Office), Saleh Uddin Sifat, on Tuesday.
According to the statement, media reports have accused Nizam of financial misconduct and serious breaches of party discipline, damaging the party’s reputation. Preliminary evidence was reportedly found to support the allegations, leading to his suspension from all organizational activities, effective immediately.
The statement also instructed Nizam to submit a written explanation to the head of the central disciplinary committee, Advocate Abdullah Al-Amin, within 48 hours, explaining why he should not be expelled.
Earlier, on Monday afternoon, Nizam had been served a show-cause notice signed by Arif Moinuddin, joint coordinator (Office) of the city committee, asking him to explain allegations of party discipline violations.
The notice stated that on August 10, several Bangladeshi media outlets published a report featuring a video brought to the attention of the NCP Chittagong Metropolitan Committee. The footage allegedly shows Nizam demanding Tk500,000 to halt protests against the Chittagong port.
The 1.5-minute video, posted on Facebook by former joint member secretary of the anti-discrimination student movement’s Chittagong city unit, Rahadul Islam, allegedly shows Nizam in a Messenger call with Aftab Hossain Rifat, coordinator of the port-based wing of the movement.
In the conversation, Nizam suggests pressuring for an additional Tk500,000 and promises to distribute a portion to certain individuals.
Rahadul Islam claimed Nizam had previously faced extortion allegations and accused him of misappropriating Tk500,000 from Saif Powertec to suppress protests. He described the act as both corruption and a betrayal of public trust.
Nizam Uddin, however, dismissed the allegations, calling the video “old and planned” and an attempt to politically corner him. He said the person in the video would go live to explain the situation.
Chief Coordinator of NCP Chittagong City, Mir Arshadul Haque, said the party had sought feedback about Nizam from the anti-discrimination student movement before including him in the committee, and they had responded positively.
“Now that new allegations have surfaced, we will seek his explanation as per procedure,” he added.
On April 23, under the leadership of NCP’s northern region organizer Russell Ahmed, a platform named “Port Protection Movement” held a rally and procession in the Chittagong Customs intersection area over the New Mooring Container Terminal issue.
