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Published : 15 Sep 2025, 10:54 AM
Faria Akter Toma had once grabbed the limelight with her controversial slogans outside the residence of former Kishoreganj MP Fazlur Rahman. Now, she is back in the headlines -- but for all the wrong reasons.
Last week, Toma was arrested and sent to jail on charges of extortion.
According to police, she and several others entered a house on Road No. 6 of Uttara's Sector 13 in the early hours of Thursday. After introducing themselves as “coordinators” of the July Uprising, they demanded Tk 1 million from garment businessman Delwar Hossain, claiming they could arrange for him to be cleared from a criminal case.
That night, the family handed over Tk 550,000. The suspects then warned that the remaining Tk 450,000 had to be paid by 4pm the next day, threatening harm if their demand was not met. They stayed at the house until dawn and left around the time of Fazr Azan (call to prayer).
On Thursday, Delwar’s brother-in-law, Riaz Uddin Ahmed, filed a case at Uttara West Police Station, naming four people and two unidentified suspects.
Later, around 12:50am on Friday, law enforcers arrested one of the suspects, HM Noman Reza, in front of Airport Police Station. The information he provided led to the arrests of Tanzil Hossain and Toma at 3:40am in the Jasim Uddin area of Uttara. However, Niloy and two other suspects remain at large.
Investigators said efforts to apprehend them are ongoing.
On Friday, the case's investigating officer produced the three arrested suspects before a Dhaka court and sought to keep them in jail.
Rejecting their bail pleas, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mehedi Hasan ordered the trio to be sent to prison. The court set Oct 16 for submission of the investigation report.
Sub-Inspector Abdul Malek Khan, the investigating officer, said authorities had so far recovered Tk 430,000 of the extorted money. Efforts are under way to recover the remaining amount and to identify the two unnamed suspects, he added.
A TORTUROUS ORDEAL
Plaintiff Riaz described the night as “mental torture”.
“After 1am, they forced their way into the house under the guise of coordinators and brought police with them. Around 1:30am my niece called me, and by 2:30am we reached the house,” he said.
“They came in a group of six to extort money. Two were inside, four were outside. They also brought five or six policemen along. The police said they could do nothing -- that the so-called coordinators had filed a case and brought them to arrest the accused.
He continued, “They didn’t allow us to contact anyone. They threatened us in the presence of police. What power they have! What kind of country are we living in? They stayed until the Fajr Azan, took Tk 550,000 at around 4:30am, and left before the neighbours could arrive. Noman led the extortion effort, while Toma later entered the house and searched everything.”
When asked about the alleged presence of police during the extortion, SI Malek said: “The investigation is ongoing. Nothing can be said until it is completed.”
TARGETED FOR EXTORTION
According to Riaz, the group targeted different people for extortion using the guise of coordinators.
"We are non-political. My brother-in-law is a social worker," he said.
“They targeted him for extortion. We filed a complaint against them. We hope the police will take proper action.”
Noman Reza had earlier filed an attempted murder case linked to the July Uprising at Airport Police Station, naming someone called Delwar as an accused, according to Riaz. Using that pretext, the group went to Uttara’s Sector 13 to look for garment trader Delwar Hossain.
When told the family was not at home, the police left. Later that night, Noman, Tanzil, Toma, Niloy and two unidentified individuals forcibly entered the house at 1:10am. Noman introduced himself as a coordinator and claimed he could secretly arrange for Delwar's name to be dropped from the case.
When Riaz asked what evidence existed against Delwar, Noman and his associates responded with abusive language. According to case details, when Riaz’s son Munna stepped forward, the suspects threatened him as well.
They then demanded Tk 1 million in exchange for clearing Delwar from the case.
Under duress, the family raised Tk 550,000 from various sources that night. Noman warned that if the remaining Tk 450,000 was not paid by the afternoon, the family would face harm.
'THEY'VE BEEN FRAMED'
Defence lawyer AHM Ashiq said he was not able to speak to the suspects or even see them.
"I believe they have been framed. They filed a case and went there with police to arrest the accused.”
When asked if it was their role to assist police, Ashiq said: “The coordinators mostly did this. I haven’t studied the case in depth yet, but will provide more details later.”
“Toma is unwell. On Sept 9, she saw a doctor and returned home that night,” he added.
Pressed on her illness, the lawyer could not provide details. “I saw a long prescription. But I couldn’t read it properly.”
