8 arrested over attack on ISP office

Police have arrested eight people in connection with the attack, vandalism and looting of the office of internet service provider Digital Dot Net (DDN) and Exabyte in Chattogram.

Law enforcement agencies said that several cases including extortion, weapons, drugs, kidnapping and robbery are pending against some of the arrestees.

Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) Additional Commissioner (Crime) Muhammad Faisal Ahmed gave this information at a press conference on Wednesday (July 15).

The arrested persons are—Md. Yunus, 41, Imran Hossain Chang, 31, Akbar Hossain, 24, Md. Sumon, 27, Md. Monir alias Keherman, 38, Md. Gias Uddin, 21, Md. Nayan, 20, and Mohammad Abdul Nahid alias Farhad, 28.

According to the police, on July 11, DDN owner Adil Bin Mamun received a WhatsApp call from an overseas number. Adil said: "He told me that if I wanted to continue running my business, I would have to pay Tk 2 crore to his men, along with Tk 10 lakh every month. The next day, another person called me from a Bangladeshi number and asked when I would make the payment. After I refused, I received a message around midnight on Sunday saying, ‘Wait and watch.'”

In continuation of this, on July 13, a group of 30 to 35 masked men carrying sharp weapons stormed the office, vandalised furniture and computers, and looted valuables before fleeing within minutes. The attackers threatened the officials and employees and vandalized various items including computers, laptops, printers, fingerprint machines, furniture and glass doors. It is alleged that about Tk 1.5 million was damaged in this.

In addition, the attackers took away Tk47,000, three Android mobile phones, a Canon printer and the shoulder bag of the organization's director Ariful Islam from the office drawer. According to the complaint, the bag contained about Tk3.5 million for paying the salaries of the employees.

Police said that among the arrested, five cases were filed against Md. Yunus, 12 against Imran Hossain Chang, six against Akbar Hossain, six against Md. Sumon, seven against Md. Monir alias Keherman and eight against Md. Nayon.

Following the incident, a case was filed with Chawkbazar Police Station on July 13 based on the complaint of the victim. The investigation into the case is ongoing and a drive is underway to arrest others involved in the attack, police said.