Dhaka, April 9 (bdnews24.com) -- Tarique Rahman's friend Giasuddin Al Mamun said in a confessional statement Monday that he had extorted money from a builder using the "influence of Hawa Bhaban".
Separately, a Dhaka court allowed the police nine more days to interrogate the controversial businessman in two other extortion cases.
Mamun's confessional statement came in the extortion case filed with Kafrul Police Station by Khan Mohammad Aftab Uddin, owner of Reza Construction, a construction firm.
Kafrul police grilled Mamun for four days to extract details for the case. Chief metropolitan magistrate ABM Abdul Fattah took his statement.
Mamun said he and some others had used Hawa Bhaban links to extort a big sum from the company.
Allegations have it that Mamun had used BNP chief Khaleda Zia's personal office to make illegal money during the five-year rule by the four-party coalition.
In another statement to court on April 5, Mamun confessed his involvement in extortion in another case, also filed by Aftab Uddin.
Meanwhile, metropolitan magistrate Selina Akter allowed Dhanmondi police to put Mamun on remand for five days in a case of extorting Tk 81 lakh while Gulshan police got four days in another case of extorting Tk 53 lakh.
Mamun's counsel Barrister Fakhrul Islam appealed to court to reject the remand pleas by the police. The court did not accept his request.
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