Police yesterday detained Khairul Islam Sajib, senior joint convener of Narayanganj district Jubo Dal and son of BNP’s Narayanganj-3 (Sonargaon-Siddhirganj) MP Azharul Islam Mannan, over allegations of extortion.

He was taken to the Detective Branch (DB) office of Dhaka Metropolitan Police for questioning, the DMP media wing said in a message yesterday.

Sajib was taken into custody from his house in Dhaka’s Bashundhara residential area in the afternoon with assistance from DB, said Narayanganj Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Tarek Al Mehedi.

He was later brought to the office of the superintendent of police in Narayanganj around 5:00pm for questioning.

“We have received complaints of extortion against him. Following instructions from higher authorities, he was taken into custody from his house. He cooperated with us and was brought to the SP office for questioning,” said the police official.

After more than an hour of interrogation at the SP office, Sajib was handed over to DMP DB on instructions from higher authorities.

A senior Narayanganj district police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Daily Star that allegations of extortion against Sajib began surfacing after the BNP came to power.

Recently, Sajib allegedly demanded money from the owner of one of the country’s largest industrial conglomerates. Following the incident, the business group lodged a complaint with the home ministry, the official said.

Acting on instructions from higher authorities, law enforcers took him into custody and questioned him over specific allegations of extortion.

The official said although no case had been filed against Sajib yet, the process was underway.