Press conference called to protest 'abduction', 'torture'of former Gonotantrik Chhatra Sangsad leader Jane Alam Apu
The conference was called following the release of a confession video where Apu described how leaders of Students Against Discrimination, including Asif Mahmud, create a mob and engage in extortion
The family of former joint convener of the Bangladesh Gonotantrik Chhatra Sangsad, Jane Alam Apu, has announced an urgent press conference to protest his alleged abduction and torture.
The conference was called following the release of a confession video where Apu described how leaders of Students Against Discrimination, including Asif Mahmud, create a mob and engage in extortion.
According to the family, Apu was abducted by a group of armed assailants from Dhaka South, subjected to severe physical abuse, and coerced into making a false confession.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The press conference is scheduled for 11am today (14 August) at the National Museum in Shahbagh.
A video of expelled Gonotantrik Chhatra Sangsad leader Jane Alam Apu, who was arrested in a case over extortion at the residence of a former MP in Dhaka's Gulshan, has gone viral on social media last night (13 August).
It is believed that the 35-minute-long video was recorded by Jane Alam Apu while he was in hiding after the alleged extortion incident. In the footage, Apu gives a detailed account of the events.
In the video, he says, "In the Gulshan extortion case, the person you saw collecting the bag of money was me. From your footage, you have seen that the coordinators were involved in the extortion. The coordinator who was considered a hero last year has now been labelled an extortionist.
"I have some questions. Do you know that at 5am that day, after informing the DC and AC of the zone through an entirely official process, we went to the former MP Shammi's house with the police to conduct a raid? Do you know that before the raid, I spoke with adviser Asif Mahmud at a place in Gulshan?
"Why is that information missing from the media? Why was the raid the previous night suppressed in the news? Why is there no mention of the early morning law enforcement operation? During the raid, we realised Shammi was there, but after getting tipped off, she escaped," he said.
"The two-and-a-half-minute clip that went viral overnight, turning us into villains, if you have the courage, release the CCTV footage from the previous night. Let's see who was calling and whose phone was used for Shammi to leave the house," he added.
He further said, "Make public the conversations we had with law enforcement during the raid."
On 1 August, Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police (DB) arrested Jane Alam Apu from the city's Wari area.
On the same day, based on information provided by Apu, police recovered a Yamaha FZ-X motorcycle, allegedly purchased with Tk3.07 lakh of extortion money, from a residence in Nabinghar Housing, Mohammadpur.
