Man placed on 3-day remand over student visa scam

A Dhaka court on Wednesday placed one named Nabil Yusuf Rafi on a three-day remand in a case filed over alleged defrauding of people under the promise of sending them abroad on student visas.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Kamal Uddin passed the order after police produced the accused before the court and sought a seven-day remand.

Earlier, on 4 August, police arrested Rafi from the East Rajabazar area of Farmgate in the capital. He is a resident of Satbhaiyapara in Sonargaon upazila of Narayanganj.

According to the case documents, the accused represents an organisation named "Visa Guide" and collected Tk3.10 crore from 36 victims, including the complainant, Zarin Tasnim, by promising to arrange student visas and send them abroad.

Though the accused provided money receipts to the victims, none of them was sent abroad within the promised time, nor was their money refunded. A case was filed against 26 accused over the matter.

The remand application said that custodial interrogation is necessary to uncover the modus operandi of the alleged fraud ring, trace the misappropriated money, identify other people involved, determine the actual number of victims, and verify the allegations.