Kamrul Hasan : A man named Abdullah Al Mamun, 46, has been arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) of Manikganj Police on allegations of carrying out lobbying, transfer, and recruitment scams by impersonating the Assistant Private Secretary (APS-1) to the Prime Minister.

He was arrested on Thursday night from the Rarhibari area of Savar in the capital.

The information was disclosed by Manikganj Superintendent of Police Mohammad Sarwar Alam at a press conference held at the district police office on Friday afternoon.

According to police sources, on May 18, the arrested Abdullah Al Mamun called the Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department and the Director General of the Food Directorate using his personal mobile number, introducing himself as the Assistant Private Secretary (APS-1) to the Prime Minister.

When the matter came to the attention of the concerned officials of the Prime Minister’s Office, a General Diary (GD) was filed at Dhanmondi Police Station in Dhaka. Based on the complaint, law enforcement agencies conducted an operation and arrested him.

At the press conference, the police superintendent said that Mamun’s home is in Uyail village under Daulatpur upazila of Manikganj district.

During the arrest, police recovered a mobile phone used in fraudulent activities, a fake journalist identity card, a jeep bearing an English “PRESS” sticker, leaflets containing the title “Advocate, Bangladesh Supreme Court,” and photocopies of land sale and purchase documents.

Police claimed that Abdullah Al Mamun had long been deceiving government officials and ordinary people by introducing himself at different times as the Prime Minister’s Assistant Private Secretary, a journalist, and even a Supreme Court lawyer.

According to police, during preliminary interrogation he admitted involvement in recruitment and transfer trading, lobbying, and collecting money by assuring accused persons in various cases of legal exemption and influence.

Police also stated that there are six previous cases against him, including cheque fraud. He has already been convicted in two of those cases.

Law enforcement authorities said investigations are ongoing to determine whether others are involved in the incident and to identify the wider network behind the fraud syndicate.