Ex-BCL leader held for impersonating as staff of PM’s press official

Detectives arrested a former member of the now-banned Chhatra League (BCL), in Singra, Natore on Friday night, over allegations he extorted money from people by impersonating as the office assistant for the prime minister’s additional press secretary.

The arrested man, Abu Huraira, also known as Khaled or Rashed, 30, was detained from his home. He served as the organising secretary of the Singra municipal unit of the Chhatra League during 2016-19.

Natore Superintendent of Police Shariful Haque confirmed the arrest at a press briefing on Saturday afternoon.

He said the accused had allegedly been contacting politically influential individuals, government employees and other prominent people for a long time through WhatsApp, and extorted money from them through bKash, Nagad, Rocket and other mobile financial services.

During these communications, he allegedly identified himself as an assistant at the office of Ataur Rahman Ruman, the prime minister’s additional press secretary, and promised to secure various benefits, as well as political appointments or nominations within the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

According to the police chief, on 19 October at 3:11pm, the accused allegedly made a WhatsApp call from his home in Singra to the mobile number used by victim Md Kader Gani Chowdhury and sought money by promising to secure a political position. He also allegedly demanded money from Barrister Nasiruddin.

After the matter came to the attention of the Prime Minister’s Additional Press Secretary, a team from the Natore DB launched an operation with the assistance of information technology. The suspect was subsequently arrested in the Singra area.

A case has been filed at Singra Police Station under the relevant provisions of the Cyber Protection Act, 2026, in connection with the incident. Police said officers are probing if others are involved in the fraud scheme.

Abu Huraira once served as a technician at the Rangpur office of state-run Bangladesh Betar, and also conducted fraud activities there, which led to the authorities to expel him from there.

He is an accused in a number of cases filed with different police stations, Superintendent Shariful Haque told reporters.