Desk Report,
“See if you can get another five hundred thousand from him.”
A video of Nizam Uddin, the joint coordinator of the National Citizens Party (NCP) in Chittagong, demanding a ransom of Tk 5 lakh to suppress the Chittagong port-centric movement has gone viral. A video of his conversation with another person about the incident went viral on social media Facebook on Sunday evening. In it, he can be heard asking for money to stop the movement.
“See if you can get another five hundred thousand from him.”
Earlier, on July 5, a woman wrote a letter to the police commissioner accusing Nizam Uddin of extortion. In the letter, the woman mentioned that Nizam Uddin had filed a false case against her husband after not receiving the Tk 2 crore ransom. Nizam was then the member secretary of the Chittagong city branch of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. After the allegations, his post was also suspended. Later, he was reinstated. In the one-and-a-half-minute video that went viral on Facebook, a person named Aftab Hossain Rifat is seen talking to Nizam Uddin on a Messenger call, which was videotaped on another phone. At the beginning, Aftab Hossain said, ‘If the Mir brothers do not stop the movement, what will we do?’ In response, Nizam Uddin said, ‘I will stop the movement. Did they give you money?’ Aftab replied ‘yes’ from this side.
When asked how many lakhs of taka were given, Aftab said ‘five’. Then Nizam Uddin was heard saying, ‘With more pressure… see if you can get another five lakhs from him, if you can get it, I will bring them, Rohan, and the Mirs and give them something.’ The leaders and activists of the party said that Aftab Hossain is the Chittagong Port-based coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
The video was uploaded on the social media Facebook by Rahadul Islam, former joint member secretary of the Chittagong city branch of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. He wrote, ‘Nizam Uddin embezzled 5 lakh taka while suppressing the anti-Saif Power Tech movement, this is not only corruption, it is a direct betrayal of the trust of students and the public.’
When asked to know, Rahadul Islam told Prothom Alo this evening, ‘Someone gave me the video. Nizam was accused of extortion before. Now, he has been accused of taking money from Saif Power Tech to suppress the port-centric movement.’
In this regard, NCP Chittagong City Joint Coordinator Nizam Uddin told Prothom Alo, ‘These are old videos. They are trying to corner me politically by spreading them. These are planned videos. The one who made the video (Aftab) will come live and tell the details.’
When asked to know, NCP Chittagong City Chief Coordinator Mir Arshadul Haque told Prothom Alo, ‘Earlier, after the allegations were raised, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement was asked about him when the NCP committee was formed. He was included in the committee after their positive response. Now that the allegations have been made, we will seek an explanation from him as per the rules.’
It is worth noting that on April 23, an organization called ‘Bandar Raksha Andolan’ led by NCP’s northern region organizer Russell Ahmed held a procession and rally at the city’s Customs intersection on the issue of the New Mooring Container Terminal.
