Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have detained 14 members of a gang from Dhaka, Cumilla and Brahmanbaria districts for embezzling money from overseas goers assuring them of providing  fake Covid negative certificates.

The detainees are- Md Jashim Uddin, 22, Md Sultan Mia, 19, Md Belal Hossain, 31, Md Abul Hossain, 24, Md Abdul Nur, 21, Md Alfaz Mia, 19, Md Shamim 32, Md Ahmmad Hossain,19, Md Imran Uddin Milon, 19,  Md Sabuj Mia, 27, Md Abdur Rashid, 28, Md Abdul Karim Chowdhury, 32, Md Angur Mia, 25, and Md Alamgir Hossain, 20.

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According to a media release of Rab Headquarter, several teams of Rab-11 conducted a drive in Kotwali area Cumilla on Wednesday night and detained Jashim and Sultan.

Based on the arrestees’ information, Rab members conducted drives in Nasirnagar of Brahmanbaria and Saydabad, Ramna and Motijheel areas of the capital and detained  the other members of the gang.

During the drive, around Tk 7 lakh, 120 SIM cards, a fingerprint machine for activating SIM, a tab, 32 mobile phone sets, a passport and some  notebooks  were seized.

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During primary interrogation, ringleader Belal confessed that he assured a man who wanted to go to a Middle East country that he would provide a fake Covid-19 negative certificate in exchange of Tk 10,000 in March last year, said the release.

In this way, Belal took about Tk 50 lakh from more than 600 intending overseas goers.

Process is underway to take legal action against the detainees, it added.