Extorted, now in fear

The two Buddhist traders, who recently bought freedom from confinement by a CID sub-inspector for Tk 20,000, now fear reprisal from policemen after a Buddhist federation leader raised the matter at a 14-party meeting.

“As the news was published in the media, we are apprehending that policemen might create further trouble for us,” a close relative of the traders from Rampura Bazar told The Daily Star.

The traders -- Sabuj Barua and Sourav Barua who are brothers -- were picked up by SI Israfil Shamim and three of his colleagues from their shop around 1:00pm on June 19.

They were then kept confined to the office of Israfil for three hours and threatened with implicating them in a case.

One of the policemen then demanded Tk 1 lakh for their release. The two were allowed to walk out of the Criminal Investigation Department at Malibagh only after they gave them Tk 20,000. This happened with the intervention of some Buddhist community leaders, said one of them involved in the negotiation.

Both the relative and the leader requested anonymity fearing retribution.    

The incident came to light on Wednesday after Buddhist Federation President Ashim Ranjan Barua alleged at a 14-party alliance meeting that two small traders from their community were picked up by police during the special drive.

Cops demanded Tk 1 lakh for their release and freed them after taking TK 20,000, he added.

Contacted, Sabuj Barua declined to comment.

Another leader of the community said SI Israfil loaded Tk 500 on his personal bKash account from BD Trading, owned by Manash Barua Bibhash, father of the victims. 

The next day, the SI came to the shop and alleged that someone called his number saying Tk 500 was wrongly sent to his account.

He also alleged the caller asked him to send the money back, a common trick of fraudsters. The SI checked his account, and found no such money was deposited in his bKash account. He then refused to send back the money.

The caller then allegedly misbehaved with him.

Following the incident, the SI along with three other cops went to the shop and insisted that one of Manash's two sons called him with the motive of cheating.

The policemen also threatened to confiscate goods from the shop and hauled the two brothers to the CID office. A senior officer examined his voice with the recorded conversation of the caller, but found Israfil's allegation false, the leader said.

Later, the two brothers were taken to Israfil's room and forced to stay there until they gave him Tk 20,000.

Contacted, Israfil said the allegation was baseless. He also claimed he did not pick up anyone. According to him, Rampura police detained the two brothers. 

Asked if any action was taken against the policemen, CID Chief Sheikh Himayet Hossain said he was not aware of the incident. “Nobody filed any complaint. If anybody files one, we will definitely investigate the incident and take action if one is found guilty.”