Police on Friday detained four members of Rapid Action Battalion and a woman from the capital for allegedly demanding ransom from the family members of an abducted man.
Hatirjheel thana police detained them after receiving a complaint from the abducted man’s sister Rayana Hossain, 20. She informed the police that a person, claiming to be a Rab member, demanded ransom over phone for letting her brother Tamzid Hossain, 27, go.
Based on her information, the Hatirjheel thana police rescued Tamzid and detained the four Rab members along with the woman. However, their identities have not been made public.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam told reporters that three of the Rab members are from the army while the other is from the air force. They were sent back to their parent forces.
Director (Legal and Media Wing) of the Rab headquarters Commander Khandaker Al Moin said the Rab members would face action if the allegations against them are found to be true.
Replying to a question, he said the force does not take responsibility for any individual’s crime.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered at Hatirjheel Police Station on early Friday by the victim’s sister, Tamzid went out of their Mirbagh residence around 9am on Thursday for Uttara.
Around noon, a man called her from an unknown number and introduced himself as a senior RAB official and told her that her brother was in their custody. The caller also threatened to kill her brother if they informed police.
The caller called again at around 1:30pm on Thursday and informed her that her brother was being interrogated at Rab office by senior officials and he might be killed in ‘crossfire’ if they did not pay Tk 2 crore.
Finally, they agreed to let Tamzid for Tk 12 lakh, according to the FIR.