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Criminals demand Tk 10 lakh from another Mirpur trader

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Two days into the killing of businessman Kazi Shahidullah, criminals demanded Tk 10 lakh from another businessman of Mirpur.
"One called me Saturday night, identifying himself as Shahadat and said 'Shahid is finished; now it is your turn. If you do not want to die, give us
Tk 10 lakh,'" a trader quoted a president of a market at Mirpur 1 as saying.
For the last one year, local criminals Shahadat and his gang's kingpin Khorshed, along with Ali Azam, Ali Akbar and Abul Kalam are forcing local traders to pay them illegal tolls, local traders said. They also alleged
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that the notorious criminals are carrying out criminal activities by maintaining relations with a section of dishonest officials of local police stations and even the Detective Branch (DB) of police.
However, Officer-in-Charge of the Mirpur Police Station denied that police have any link with the criminals.
Traders say they have come under increasing pressure from the criminals. "For the last two months the criminals' demand for illegal tolls intensified," said a trader. A number of traders said the criminals collected tolls to the tune of Tk one crore from the Bishil area alone in the last year.
The traders described that the criminals maintain a strong network, and also collect detailed information about every businessman's family and children. "When the criminals phoned for tolls, they first demanded money and then continued by saying where his son studies, which business establishments he owns, and how much he earns," said a trader, seeking anonymity.
The traders alleged that three brothers --Ali Azam, Ali Akbar and Abul Kalamwho are also close associates of Shahadat, have bought three houses in the Bishil area in the last few months.
SHOPS OPENED
Mirpur traders postponed their decision to keep their shops shut yesterday after Deputy Commissioner of the West division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police assured them that police would arrest Shahidullah's killers within 72 hours, beginning from yesterday morning.
Almost 80 percent of shops were found open yesterday, but an uneasy calm prevailed in the area.
Business leaders said if the police fail to arrest the killers in the
stipulated time, the Bangladesh Shop Owners' Association and the Dhaka City Shop Owners' Association will announce a greater movement.
Businessmen will also wear black badges for 10 days from the time of the killing.
Meanwhile, Roots Garments owner Mohsin Uddin Niru, who rented a 19,200sq-ft floor of the Mirpur Mazar Co-operative Market building and who owes Tk 65 lakh outstanding rent to the market association, in a statement yesterday said he has a transaction with the market committee, but had no feud.
He said earlier that the market committee informed the matter to police and to the Rapid Action Battalion, who were satisfied after verifying his deed. He also said he has no enmity with Shahidullah.
Contrary to Niru's statement, however, a number of traders and the slain businessman's family said Niru threatened Shahidullah and a few other members of the market committee due to the stiff insistence of realising the outstanding rent DETAINED KILLING SUSPECT REMANDED Mirpur police yesterday produced Selim before the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Dhaka with a prayer for seven days remand. However, the court granted five days.
In the remand prayer, police said Syed Mohammad Selim, an associate of Shahadat, helped the killers to identify Shahidullah soon after he came out of the local mosque after Jumma prayer.
Meanwhile, police arrested two more associates of Shahadat Tuhin and Raju from the Lalkuthi area, suspecting their involvement in the killing.