4 student leaders on 7-day remand in Gulshan extortion case

A Dhaka court has placed four student leaders, including Abdur Razzak Riyad — acting convener of the Combined Private University Unit of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement — on a seven-day remand in connection with an extortion case filed over an incident at the Gulshan residence of former MP Shammi Ahmed.

Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md. Ziadur Rahman issued the remand order on Sunday (July 27) following a hearing.

The three other accused placed on remand are Sakadawn Siam, Sadman Sadab, and Md. Ibrahim Hossain.

As the accused were brought to court, chants of “extortionist, extortionist” rang out across the premises. Hearing the slogans, the arrested student leaders lowered their heads.

Earlier, on Saturday evening (July 26), five young men went to a house on Road 91 in Gulshan-2 and demanded Tk 50 lakh from the husband of former MP Shammi Ahmed, introducing themselves as “coordinators” of a political organization. According to the complainant, they had already taken Tk 10 lakh during an earlier visit. When they returned around 8.00pm that night and asked for gold jewelry, the family alerted the police. Gulshan police quickly responded and arrested four of the individuals.

Later, Shammi Ahmed’s husband, Siddiq Abu Zafar, filed a case at Gulshan Police Station, naming six individuals as accused. Among them, Kazi Gaurav Apu is currently on the run, while 15-year-old Aminul Islam will be tried in a juvenile court.

According to the case statement, on July 17, Abdur Razzak Riyad and Kazi Gaurav Apu visited the residence, introducing themselves as coordinators of a political organization. They allegedly used intimidation and their political identity to demand Tk 50 lakh. When the complainant declined, they labeled him “anti-government” and a “collaborator of dictatorship,” threatening him with arrest. Out of fear, the complainant handed over Tk 10 lakh.

The duo returned on July 19 to pressure him for the remaining Tk 40 lakh. Their final attempt on July 26 to collect the money led to their arrest, though Kazi Gaurav Apu managed to flee the scene.