Police detain youth seen extorting car in viral video

Police have detained a young man caught extorting a car in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi in a viral video.

Once the video went viral, the youth was taken into the custody of the Dhanmondi Police Station after a raid in the Jigatala area around 1am on Wednesday.

The detainee was identified as 23-year-old Md Ashraful, who hails from Lakshmipur’s Chandraganj and lives in Dhaka’s Hazaribagh.

Md Masud Alam, deputy commissioner of the Ramna Division of police, said: “Ashraful was detained in a raid as soon as the video went viral. Action will be taken against him according to the law.”

The video, which went viral on Facebook, showed a young man in a white shirt asking passengers in a car for money and handing them a receipt. He claimed the money was charged for parking the car next to the Ibn Sina Hospital in Dhanmondi.

The youth is seen arguing with a man and a woman in the car while collecting the money. When the passengers allege that they are being extorted, he responds – “is there any problem?”.

When asked his name, the youth said: “How will giving you my name help?”

When he noticed he was being filmed, he told the video taker to get a clearer shot and dares them to do something about the situation if they can.