Police in Naogaon’s Manda upazila have dismantled a honeytrap operation, arresting three suspects—including a woman—for allegedly drugging, assaulting, and blackmailing an employee of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED). The victim, a work assistant at LGED, was subjected to physical violence and recorded in compromising positions before being extorted for 10 lakh taka.
The police operation unfolded on Sunday, 9 August, following a swift sting at a local bank. Those in custody have been identified as Kanak Kumar, 30, son of Bimal Chandra Das from Kusumba village; Sazzad Hossain, 28, son of Lokman Hossain from Kusumba Dakshinpara; and Tanjima Khatun, 44, daughter of Toshir Ali from Boropoi village. Several accomplice suspects remain at large.
According to the official case statement filed by the victim at Manda Police Station, the ordeal began on Saturday morning, 8 August, near Kusumba Mosque. Members of the ring approached the work assistant under the guise of casual conversation, inviting him for tea at a nearby corrugated tin-roofed structure. Shortly after consuming tea and a cigarette provided by the group, the victim experienced severe dizziness.
Taking advantage of his impaired state, the perpetrators moved him into an adjacent room. There, Tanjima Khatun forcibly embraced him while another member recorded the encounter on a mobile phone. When the victim resisted, he was assaulted, stripped of his clothing by force, and filmed against his will. The perpetrators subsequently threatened to publish the explicit footage across social media platforms unless he paid 10 lakh taka.
Before releasing him, the gang seized 11,900 taka in cash from his person. They further coerced him into signing a cheque made out for 1,20,000 taka, alongside a blank signed cheque, the remaining leaves of his chequebook, and three blank non-judicial stamp papers.
The extortion scheme unravelled the following day, Sunday, when members of the syndicate visited the Satihat branch of Agrani Bank in Manda upazila to cash the 1,20,000 taka cheque. Anticipating their move, the victim had already alerted bank officials, who temporarily suspended transactions on the account. Unable to process the withdrawal, the suspects remained waiting inside the premises.
Alerted by bank personnel, police officers raided the branch, arresting Kanak Kumar and Sazzad Hossain on the spot while two accomplices fled. Officers seized the signed cheque as evidence. During subsequent interrogations, the suspects revealed Tanjima Khatun’s involvement, leading to her arrest at her residence shortly afterwards.
Manda Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Khorshed Alam revealed that the gang operated a recurring blackmail racket. Just two days earlier, on Friday, 7 August, the same group lured another victim, Fayzul Mullah, using an identical trap, robbing him of 60,000 taka in cash and an Android smartphone. Police have registered two separate criminal cases regarding these incidents. The three arrested suspects were presented in court on Monday and remanded into custody at Naogaon district jail while operations continue to track down the remaining fugitives.
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