Two former lawmakers--one from BNP and the other from Jamaat--were sued for extortion in Sylhet and Satkhira on Friday night. They are Ilyas Ali of Sylhet and Gazi Nazrul Islam of Satkhira.Our staff correspondent from Sylhet reported that Asab Uddin, a close associate of Awami League leader Mujibur Rahman, filed an extortion case against Ilyas Ali and two others with Biswanath Police Station. The other accused are BNP Biswanath unit Vice-president Siraj Khan and Assistant General secretary Abul Hossain. Police arrested Siraj Khan at his home at village Dashghar at midnight on Friday. He was yesterday produced before a magistrate's court that sent him to jail hajat.
In his case the complainant, who was a chairman candidate in Daulatpur Union election in 2003, alleged that former BNP lawmaker Ilyas Ali called him to his village home on January 31, 2003 and asked him to pay Tk 20 lakh in toll. Otherwise he would not be allowed to contest the polls scheduled for February 25 the same year. He further alleged that Siraj Khan and Abul Hossain, on behalf of Ilyas Ali, took Tk 5 lakh from him on February 7, 2003.
In Satkhira, another extortion case was filed against former Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Gazi Nazrul Islam with Shyamnagar Police Station, according to the UNB. Alamgir Hossain of Ismailpur village under Shyamnagar upazila filed the case accusing the former MP of taking Tk 1.5 lakh in toll from him in the name of leasing out 1 acre of khas land. But he did not keep his promise.
Earlier on April 16 and 22, two extortion cases were filed against the ex-lawmaker. Gazi Nazrul surrendered to the joint forces on March 9 after his name was published in the second list of corruption suspects. He is now in Satkhira jail.