Satkhira Lawmaker Defends Jailed Union Parishad Chairman Following Extortion Charges
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Satkhira-4 Member of Parliament Gazi Nazrul Islam has publicly defended Burigoalini Union Parishad Chairman Nazrul Islam, who was recently jailed in connection with an extortion case. The lawmaker characterized the judicial remand of the chairman and the allegations against him as the result of a calculated political conspiracy by his opponents.
Gazi Nazrul Islam took to social media on Wednesday morning to denounce the arrest, stating that the decision to send the two-time chairman to jail after his High Court bail expired was orchestrated by adversaries. He described the charges as fabricated and warned that if local residents do not resist such alleged smear campaigns, it could undermine the future of honest leadership in the Shyamnagar region.
Nazrul Islam, who serves as a member of the Shyamnagar Upazila Jamaat-e-Islami executive council, was incarcerated following a lawsuit filed on May 24. The case, registered at Shyamnagar Police Station, stems from allegations of extortion, assault, and intimidation related to a Water Development Board embankment project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The legal complaint, filed by Jalal Uddin, a legal officer for the contracting firm Ar-Raad Corporation, names the chairman and his son, Abdur Rahman, among four primary suspects, with an additional 20 to 25 unidentified individuals listed as accomplices. The lawsuit alleges that on May 19, the chairman demanded 1.5 million taka in extortion money, threatening to sabotage the project and harm staff if his demands were not met.
Prosecutors further alleged that on May 23, project engineer Zahid Hasan and a staff member named Ferdous were physically assaulted at the construction site. The complaint details that the engineer’s personal belongings, including a smartwatch and a wallet, were stolen during the altercation.
The chairman has consistently denied these allegations, dismissing them as politically motivated and false. In his defense, he has maintained that he was attending a union budget session at the time of the alleged assault.
Following the initial charges, the chairman and his associate, Bishwajit Mondol, had secured a six-week anticipatory bail from the High Court. Upon the expiration of that period on Monday, they surrendered to a Satkhira court, which denied their bail plea and ordered them to be remanded into custody.
Pabitra Kumar, counsel for the plaintiff, confirmed that the court denied the bail request after hearing arguments regarding the severity of the extortion charges and the disruption of government development work.
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