Staff Reporter:
The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested five people including two women for their alleged involvement in a “honey-trap” gang.
DB chief Additional Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam disclosed the information at a press briefing at the DMP Media Centre on Sunday.
The arrestees are- Jit Bhakta alias Abdur Rahman, 38; Pritam Biswas alias Anik Sheikh, 30; Arthajit Bhakta alias Siddhartha, 20; Sabrin Kabir Prema alias Neha, 22; and Sadia Yasmin alias Mahi, 21.
The gang used to blackmail wealthy men by recording their intimate moments and threatening to circulate the footage on social media.
Police said Jit Bhakta alias Abdur Rahman was the leader of the gang, while Pritam was his nephew and Sabrin was Pritam’s wife.
Shafiqul Islam said the DB had been investigating the gang for a prolonged period after receiving complaints from four victims.
The gang members frequently changed their residences and hideouts and operated multiple social media accounts using SIM cards registered under false identities, making it difficult for investigators to trace them, he said.
The DB eventually tracked down the suspects through intelligence surveillance and technological assistance and arrested them at a residential building in the Turag area.
Five mobile phones, three blank cheques and equipment allegedly used for torture, including a torture belt, were recovered during the operation, the DB chief said.
He said the gang’s female members used different identities and social media accounts to establish romantic relationships with their targets before persuading them to visit designated locations.
Once the victims arrived, the gang’s male members held them hostage, tortured them physically and recorded compromising photos and videos of them with the women.
The gang then extorted large sums of money by threatening to publish the footage on social media and send it to the victims’ relatives, police said.
Even after obtaining money from the victims once, the gang members allegedly continued to extort them on subsequent occasions by threatening to release the photos and videos, he added.
A case has been filed against the arrestees with Turag Police Station in connection with the incident, according to the DB.
