Police have recovered cheques worth Tk2.25 crore from the residence of Abdur Razzak bin Sulaiman alias Riyad, a former leader of the anti-discrimination student movement, who is currently in police custody in connection with an extortion case.

Muhammad Talebur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner of the Media and Public Relations Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), confirmed the information on Wednesday (July 30).

He stated that four cheques, totaling Tk2.25 crore, were recovered from Riyad’s residence following his arrest in the extortion case.

Riyad and four other student leaders were detained on charges of extortion after allegedly demanding Tk50 lakh from former reserved seat lawmaker Shammi Ahmed at her house in Dhaka’s Gulshan.

Police raided Riyad’s house in the Nakhalpara area of Dhaka on Monday night (July 29) and seized the cheques. In addition, documents related to fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) worth around Tk20 lakh were also recovered.

Earlier on Sunday (July 27), Dhaka’s Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ziadur Rahman granted a seven-day remand for Riyad and the other accused in the extortion case.

According to sources, five youths recently visited the residence of former MP Shammi Ahmed. Introducing themselves as "coordinators," they demanded Tk 50 lakh in extortion. As Shammi Ahmed was not house at the time, they made the demand to her husband. A few days earlier, the same group had reportedly collected Tk 10 lakh from the family. Later, they returned once again to demand gold ornaments. At that point, the family informed the police, who subsequently detained Riyad and the four others and took them to the police station.

Following the incident, Shammi Ahmed`s husband, Siddiq Abu Zafar, filed a case at Gulshan Police Station, naming six individuals as accused in connection with the extortion.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), on July 17, accused Abdur Razzak Riyad and Kazi Gaurab Apu went to the complainant’s house in Gulshan-2, claiming to be coordinators. They allegedly demanded Tk 50 lakh and gold ornaments, and when the complainant refused, they accused him of being an ally of the Awami League and of supporting autocrats, threatening to have him arrested. Out of fear, the complainant paid Tk 10 lakh.

The accused reportedly returned on July 19 to collect the remaining Tk 40 lakh and issued further threats. Finally, on July 26, when they came again to collect the rest of the money, police from Gulshan Police Station detained five of them.