A former president of Companiganj upazila unit of the BNP, who had been suspended from the party over his alleged involvement in the Sadapathor looting incident, was arrested in Sylhet city on Saturday night.
The arrestee was identified as Sahab Uddin, former president of the Companiganj BNP.
He was taken into custody on Saturday, around 11:15pm, from the Kumarpara area of the city.
On August 11, the central BNP suspended him from his position following clear allegations of involvement in extortion, land grabbing and other unethical activities contrary to the party’s principles and ideals.
Confirming the arrest, KM Shahidul Islam Sohag, additional superintendent of Police and media officer of RAB-9, said that Sahab Uddin faces seven cases filed with Kotwali and Companiganj police stations in Sylhet.
In a press release issued in the early hours of Sunday, RAB identified Sahab Uddin as one of the key accused in the Sadapathor stone looting.
According to the release, based on intelligence reports, a RAB team conducted an operation in the Kumarpara area around 11:15pm on Saturday and arrested Sahab Uddin, 54.
He had previously been shown as arrested in a case filed by the Bureau of Mineral Resources Development (BMD) at Companiganj police station on August 15 regarding the looting of Sadapathor, which listed between 1,000 and 1,500 unnamed individuals as accused.
The RAB release further noted that over the past year, large-scale illegal extraction of stones occurred in Companiganj and Gowainghat Upazilas.
Media coverage of the incident sparked nationwide uproar.
Subsequently, RAB-9 intensified its intelligence operations to apprehend those responsible for the looting.
Notably, on August 8, 9, and 10, all the stones in the Sadapathar area were stolen.
Following this, the then Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet, Mohammad Sher Mahbub Murad, was made OSD and the Companiganj UNO Azizunnahar was transferred.
