Fraudster messages DC posing as home adviser, spreads election disinformation
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested a professional fraudster for allegedly impersonating Home Affairs Adviser Lieutenant General (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury and sending WhatsApp messages to the Rajshahi district commissioner (DC), providing misleading information about elections and demanding money.
The accused, Md Shamim Osman (29), was arrested yesterday (19 January) in an operation conducted by the CID's Cyber Police Centre (CPC) in the Savar area of Dhaka. His home is in Kishorpur village under Bagha upazila of Rajshahi.
CID Special Superintendent of Police Jasim Uddin Khan confirmed the matter today (20 January).
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According to the CID official, Shamim introduced himself as Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury and sent WhatsApp messages to the Rajshahi DC. In the messages, he allegedly conveyed deliberately misleading and politically sensitive information, claiming that no Awami League leaders or activists could be arrested in Rajshahi and that no election would be held without the Awami League.
He also inquired about monthly "collection" matters and instructed the DC to send Tk1 lakh immediately to his personal bKash number, the official added.
Suspicious of the messages, the concerned authorities promptly informed the CID's Cyber Police Centre. Using information technology, the CPC swiftly identified and traced the suspect, leading to his arrest, Jasim Uddin Khan said.
The CID official further stated that Shamim Osman has previous records of similar fraudulent activities and is a professional impersonator. He had earlier allegedly used the identities of senior government officials to commit fraud. A warrant for his arrest was also pending at Bagha Police Station in Rajshahi. Following legal procedures, he has been handed over to the concerned police station.
The CID's Cyber Police Centre is continuing its investigation to determine whether others were involved in the incident and whether the accused used the identities of other high-ranking officials in similar fraud attempts, the official added.
