Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members have arrested 10 people, including the project director of Karnaphuli Multipurpose Cooperative Society, on charges of fraud from Pallabi area in the capital.

A Rab team conducted a drive at Karnaphuli office of the Society in the Pallabi area from Monday noon to night and arrested project director Shakil Ahmmed,30, and nine others.

The other arrestees are Md Chan Mia, 38, AK Azad, 35, Md Rezaul,22, Md Tajul Islam, 31, Md Shahabuddin Khan, 28, Abdus Sattar, 37, Md Masum Billa, 29, Md Titu Mia, 28, and Md Atiqur Rahman,28.

The Rab team conducted the drive following specific complaints by some victims, said Rab-4 commanding officer and additional DIG of police Md Mozammel Haque during a press briefing at Rab media centre on Tuesday.

Fieldworkers of the Society used to target low-income people living in different slums of Mirpur and hooked them promising high interest from investment and installment-based savings with the Society. 

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Arrested Shakil and Chan Mia used to allure people promising huge earning from a small investment within a short period of time, Mozammel said.

The prime accused, Jasim Uddin, the owner of the cooperative society, went into hiding when the drive started.

Jasim graduated from Jagannath University and worked as a representative of an insurance company, said Mozammel.

In 2003, Jasim established Karnaphuli Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited aiming to earn huge profits within a short time. The Cooperative Society got registered with the Department of Cooperatives in 2006 while re-registered in 2013.

In 2018-2019, according to Rab, they showed the Society had 537 members but it actually collected around 30,000 members violating rules. “Jasim had used the old members to bring in new ones,” said the Rab commanding officer.

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He said Jasim was very clever and was hardly seen at the Karnaphuli office.

He used to withdraw the money credited to the company’s bank account and used it for buying assets like land and flat.

A legal process is underway against the arrestees, said the Rab commanding officer.