Four held over alleged extortion at fruit market

Four people have been arrested while allegedly collecting extortion money from traders at a wholesale fruit market in Abdullahpur, Uttara, police said on Wednesday.

The arrests were made by the Special Response Battalion (SRB) during an operation near the Abdullahpur fruit market under Uttara West Police Station around 5pm.

The suspects were identified as Md Al Amin, 20; Md Khokon, 53; Md Shahin Mia, 32; and Rabiul Islam alias Robin, 20.

SRB-1 Additional Superintendent of Police and Senior Assistant Director (Operations and Media) Shah Alam confirmed the arrests later in the evening.

According to police, the Abdullahpur fruit market handles fruit transactions worth millions of taka every day.

The suspects allegedly collected regular payments from traders who came to the market to buy or sell fruit.

Acting on information about the alleged extortion, an SRB team conducted an operation and arrested the four suspects while they were allegedly collecting money, police said.

The arrested individuals were subsequently handed over to Uttara West Police Station for further legal action.