Saturday, 11 October, 2025
An armed gang stopped construction work at a building site in Chattogram’s Bayazid after firing blank shots in public and attacking workers in what police say was an “extortion attempt.”
The incident occurred on Saturday morning at Uttara Housing Society under Bayazid Bostami Police Station, prompting landowner Zahirul Islam to file a case.
According to the complaint, the gang claimed ties to Emon, a follower of Sajjad Hossain alias “Chhoto Sajjad,” a notorious Chattogram crime figure arrested in Dhaka earlier this year.
Zahirul said the group had threatened workers two weeks ago by firing blank shots and ordering them to leave the site. Later, a man identifying himself as Emon called via WhatsApp, demanding Tk 1.5 million after insisting that building materials be purchased from their sources.
“On Saturday morning, a group of armed men fired blank shots and beat up the workers. That night, they again threatened them to leave the site. The workers have fled in fear, and construction has been suspended for two days,” Zahirul told reporters.
CCTV footage reportedly shows 10–12 masked men, speaking in the Chattogram dialect, abusing workers and ordering them off the site. One masked assailant, dressed in black with a cap, was seen brandishing a pistol and firing into the air. Another was heard warning: “You better talk to Sajjad Bhai and Emon Bhai.”
The footage also shows several attackers carrying containers of liquid, apparently to cause damage, while others vandalised workers’ accommodations, seized mobile phones, and destroyed storage rooms and piling equipment.
Zahirul said he and 23 others had purchased 0.04 hectares of land at plot No. 3 of Uttara Housing in the Oxygen–Kuwaish Road area last year. Construction began on September 5, but threats started almost immediately. First, two men named Sohel and Hasan reportedly phoned the site engineer, demanding contact with the owners. Days later, a group of five men stormed the site, intimidating workers and halting work.
Bayazid Bostami Police Station chief Md Kamruzzaman confirmed that CCTV footage had been collected, adding that most attackers wore masks and police were working to identify them.
Sajjad, who once led a violent network in Chattogram, has a long record of crime. He was charged two decades ago in the killing of eight people near Shah Amanat Bridge after a bus blocked a microbus carrying Bangladesh Chhatra League activists. His network has since been linked to extortion rackets in Bayazid and Chandgaon, with Emon now believed to be running operations in his absence.
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An armed gang stopped construction work at a building site in Chattogram’s Bayazid after firing blank shots in public and attacking workers in what police say was an “extortion attempt.”
The incident occurred on Saturday morning at Uttara Housing Society under Bayazid Bostami Police Station, prompting landowner Zahirul Islam to file a case.
According to the complaint, the gang claimed ties to Emon, a follower of Sajjad Hossain alias “Chhoto Sajjad,” a notorious Chattogram crime figure arrested in Dhaka earlier this year.
Zahirul said the group had threatened workers two weeks ago by firing blank shots and ordering them to leave the site. Later, a man identifying himself as Emon called via WhatsApp, demanding Tk 1.5 million after insisting that building materials be purchased from their sources.
“On Saturday morning, a group of armed men fired blank shots and beat up the workers. That night, they again threatened them to leave the site. The workers have fled in fear, and construction has been suspended for two days,” Zahirul told reporters.
CCTV footage reportedly shows 10–12 masked men, speaking in the Chattogram dialect, abusing workers and ordering them off the site. One masked assailant, dressed in black with a cap, was seen brandishing a pistol and firing into the air. Another was heard warning: “You better talk to Sajjad Bhai and Emon Bhai.”
The footage also shows several attackers carrying containers of liquid, apparently to cause damage, while others vandalised workers’ accommodations, seized mobile phones, and destroyed storage rooms and piling equipment.
Zahirul said he and 23 others had purchased 0.04 hectares of land at plot No. 3 of Uttara Housing in the Oxygen–Kuwaish Road area last year. Construction began on September 5, but threats started almost immediately. First, two men named Sohel and Hasan reportedly phoned the site engineer, demanding contact with the owners. Days later, a group of five men stormed the site, intimidating workers and halting work.
Bayazid Bostami Police Station chief Md Kamruzzaman confirmed that CCTV footage had been collected, adding that most attackers wore masks and police were working to identify them.
Sajjad, who once led a violent network in Chattogram, has a long record of crime. He was charged two decades ago in the killing of eight people near Shah Amanat Bridge after a bus blocked a microbus carrying Bangladesh Chhatra League activists. His network has since been linked to extortion rackets in Bayazid and Chandgaon, with Emon now believed to be running operations in his absence.
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