Police have detained nine people, including an alleged “agent master” (a gambling-ring recruiter), following allegations that two young men were confined in the basement of a four-story building and beaten, with a demand for 500,000 taka, in the Hatikata village area of Alokdia union, Chuadanga Sadar upazila.
After receiving word of the incident, a call was made to the national emergency service, 999, prompting Chuadanga Sadar police station and detective branch (DB) police to launch an operation at the scene. Police say a total of nine people were detained during the day-long operation.
The incident is reported to have taken place from around 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, August 20, at a building owned by expatriate Mizanur Rahman in Hatikata village.
According to preliminary police information, Md Abu Sayed, 24, son of Nur Islam of Garachub village, Gangni upazila, Meherpur, and Farhad Hossain Junaed, 23, son of Kabil Uddin, were lured to the Hatikata building with the promise of SIM cards for online gambling. They were then allegedly confined there, beaten and threatened with a demand for 500,000 taka.
Those initially identified as involved and detained are: Md Rakib, 24, son of Hasibul, of Hatikata village; Md Alvi, 23, son of Abdur Rahman; Badhon, 25, son of Md Mostafizur; Md Farhad Hossain, 30, son of Ali Hossain Joarder; Md Nafi, 18, son of Md Al Amin; Md Rifat, 19, son of Ali Kadar, of the Kotmore area; and Md Juwel, 24, son of Nazer Ali, of the Palashpara area. All are residents of various parts of Chuadanga Sadar police station’s jurisdiction.
Several local residents, speaking on condition of anonymity, alleged that the building’s basement had been fitted out over several months as a makeshift detention and interrogation space.
They alleged that, alongside confining and beating people there, the space was also used for drug dealing and drug use, among other illicit activity. However, these allegations by local residents have not yet been independently verified.
Word of the incident spread, prompting a call to the 999 emergency line. Chuadanga Sadar police and DB police went to the scene and carried out the day-long operation, detaining nine people in total, police said.
Mizanur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Chuadanga Sadar police station, said the nine detainees are linked to online gambling and financial transactions, and that there had been internal conflict and a scuffle among them. He said they are being questioned.
Those involved said the investigation would clarify whether the allegations of premeditated confinement, beating and a 500,000-taka demand against the two young men, the alleged use of the building’s basement for drug dealing and drug use, and any political dimension to the case, hold up.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report