Three Brothers Arrested in Mirpur Over Extortion and Gang Control Linked to 'Four Star Group'
Police have arrested three brothers in the capital's Mirpur on allegations of extortion, controlling the jute trade, occupying plots and flats, and running a juvenile gang. They were arrested on Thursday (22 October) in a special operation led by Hasan Mohammad Naser Bikabdar, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's (DMP) Mirpur Division.
The arrested brothers are Md Mehedi Hasan alias Joy (39), Sanjim Hasan (27) and Md Amit Hasan (28). Police claim they are linked to a local criminal outfit known as the 'Four Star Group'.
Hafizur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Mirpur Model Police Station, said Joy is alleged to have collected extortion money, controlled the jute trade, occupied various plots and flats and controlled footpaths on behalf of Mofizur Rahman Mamun, known as a top criminal of Mirpur.
Police say Joy is also alleged to have been involved in running a juvenile gang and in financial transactions. According to police, extortion money collected through Joy was sent to Mamun, Moshiur Rahman and Jamilur Rahman alias Jamil, who are fugitives abroad.
Police further said the three arrested men are nephews of those fugitives. In other words, police allege they joined the local operations of the network through that family connection.
Another brother, Sanjim Hasan, is alleged to have run a juvenile gang using the group's influence and to have exerted influence in Ward 91 of Dhaka South City Corporation, police said.
Interrogation of the arrestees has yielded information about regular contact with the fugitives abroad. Initial findings suggest they communicated by mobile phone.
An investigation is under way against the three in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Mirpur Police Station. Police said the special operation and arrests were part of that investigation.
Businesspeople and residents of Mirpur have long complained about extortion around the jute trade, footpaths and plots and flats, and about juvenile gang menace. Allegations of extortion run by local collaborators on behalf of figures based abroad are also not new in the area — and police say this arrest points to exactly such a network.
According to police, the network had a two-tier structure: the fugitive principals abroad set the instructions and the destination of the money, while relatives and collaborators at home carried out extortion, business control and gang operations in the field. The three arrested brothers were allegedly the field-level part of that structure.
Further interrogation may now reveal more about the network's financial transactions, mobile communications and other collaborators. How the legal process against the fugitives abroad proceeds will also become clearer in the next stage of the investigation.
Traders and residents of Mirpur hope extortion and juvenile gang activity in the area will decline after these arrests. But with the network's principals still fugitive abroad, locals also fear the situation could slip back unless operations and surveillance remain sustained.
