A Dhaka court has placed four individuals, including former coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, Saiful Islam Rabbis, on a two-day remand in an extortion case.
Metropolitan Magistrate Mehedi Hasan passed the order on Tuesday after hearing a police plea for remand. The three others remanded are Abu Sufian, Abdur Rahman alias Manik, and Habibur Rahman Farhad.
Additionally, the court allowed police to interrogate another accused, Shahin Hossain, at jail gate for one day if necessary, according to Assistant Commissioner of Prosecution Police Hasan Rashed Parag.
The accused were detained by the army on Sunday night from a private clinic in Basila, Mohammadpur, on allegations of extorting money by introducing themselves as coordinators. Clinic owner Afuruza Shilpi later filed a case with Mohammadpur Police Station, following which the investigation officer sought a seven-day remand for each.
During Tuesday’s hearing, lawyers Masud Parvez and Masud Rana opposed the remand and sought bail for the accused, but the court rejected the petitions.
According to the case statement, on September 20, Shahin had taken his wife to Safe Hospital & Diagnostic Center for childbirth. After medical complications, she delivered a stillborn child. The hospital released them without taking fees, citing humanitarian grounds.
Two days later, the accused allegedly visited the hospital, demanding Tk 3 lakh to prevent legal action over the child’s death. When the hospital refused, the accused reportedly vandalized equipment, abducted one staff member briefly, and issued death threats. The hospital then paid Tk 1.2 lakh under pressure.
On September 22 and afterward, the accused allegedly continued to demand the remaining money through phone calls and threats. Finally, on Sunday night, they reportedly extorted Tk 1 lakh more after summoning the hospital authorities to West Dhanmondi. Acting on the complaint, army and police personnel arrested them from the spot.
Notably, this is not the first time Rabbis has faced such allegations. In May, he and two other leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement were detained while attempting to enter the house of a publisher at midnight. They were later released upon a written bond under the custody of Abdul Hannan Masud, a leader of the National Citizens Party.
