Staff Reporter :
A leader of the National Citizens’ Party (NCP) was detained by the army on charges of extortion while attempting to intercept trucks in Parbatipur, Dinajpur on Thursday.
The incident occurred on the Fulbari-Mithapukur road. The detainee, 40-year-old Tarikul Islam, is the son of the late Mahmudul Sarkar of West Rajabashor village in Parbatipur upazila. He serves as the local organiser of the NCP in Parbatipur.
According to sources, the Sena Kalyan Sangstha, a welfare organization under the Bangladesh Army, recently won a tender to collect scrap materials from the abandoned Barapukuria coal mine.
On Thursday evening, two trucks loaded with the tendered materials left the coal mine for their destination.
Around 7:45 PM, as the trucks reached Rasulpur on the Coal Mine-Maddhyapara road, Tarikul Islam and his associates intercepted them and demanded extortion money.
Upon receiving information, personnel from the local army camp in Parbatipur rushed to the scene and apprehended Tarikul.
His associates managed to flee. Later, a joint team of the army and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-13 handed him over to Parbatipur Model Police Station.
Ariful Islam, the designated representative of the Sena Kalyan Sangstha stationed at Barapukuria, filed a case against Tarikul with the Parbatipur Model Police Station.
The incident has been confirmed by Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abdullah Al Mamun of Parbatipur Model Police Station.
