Scores of high-ups from different strata of society fell victim to harassment and blackmail at the hands of ‘underworld don’ Salim Pradhan, said sources.
It is learnt that inviting distinguished people to his den, Salim recorded their ‘intimate moments’ with hired women using hidden camera, only to blackmail them later.
Intelligence sources said, Salim Pradhan, known as 'Thai Don' in the underworld, rented a luxurious flat as a residence at Gulshan-2. There was a 'Jalsha' every Saturday starting from 3pm which ran through the whole night. There were several influential politicians, industrialists, businessmen and also high ranking government officials, as well as two former state ministers, who regularly went there.
In order to capture the immoral and unruly lifestyle of the people who visited the place, hidden cameras were set up. Salim used the recorded video shots, and drew up plans to entrap the VIPs.
The information was obtained from a number of intelligence sources, along with people close to Selim.
Detectives said, Don Salim Pradhan, was leaving for Thailand on September 30. After going through his luggage, the customs officials found three memory cards which contained video footage of various VIPs in intimate and compromising positions with young women. Upon questioning, Salim could not answer why the memory cards were being taken to Thailand. But detectives say that he was planning to blackmail these people into paying lakhs of taka through these videos.
The court, meanwhile, has sent three men, including Salim Pradhan, the principal host of the online casino, to four days in remand. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mainul Islam issued the order on Thursday afternoon. The other two accused are Akhtaruzzaman and Roman.
Multiple traders and detectives, who have long been aware of Salim's activities, said that Salim had rented two floors of a house in Gulshan-2. He lived with his Bengali wife on the third floor and on the fourth floor he had his ‘Rangmahal’.
There are five large rooms. His office assistants used two rooms. The remaining three rooms were used for dance and entertainment of the VIPs. There was a small secret camera mounted on a ventilator in one of these special rooms.
According to intelligence sources, a young man named Masum installed this hidden camera in this room under the direction of Salim Pradhan.
It is known that the landlord of the house is due Tk 26 lakh in rent from Salim.He was not paying the due rents because of his influence. The landlord knew that influential people frequented the house and thus did not say anything to Salim fearing his influence and power.
Detectives say, Salim is a multi-faceted fraudster. He had a deep connection with the upper classes of society. Many times he had taken crores of taka from companies in order to get them out of legal problems by using his influence. However, those who went to his Rangmahal regularly did not know that he secretly kept their video footage.
Meanwhile, a law enforcement agency has questioned Salim’s assistant Masum. He gave a lot of information about the Rangmahal of Salim. Masum said hidden cameras were purchased from Baitul Mukarram Market under the direction of Salim, and installed at the Gulshan house. Selim is responsible for secretly holding VIP videos.
A video footage shows Masum, a longtime trusted aide of Salim explaining how the secret camera was installed in the Rangmahal.
Sources said, Salim has raised millions by playing online casino games. It has been reported that in one month, he had taken nine crore taka from three banks. Detectives believe that hundreds of crores of taka have been smuggled to North Korea and the Philippines by gambling online.
Regarding the influence of Salim Pradhan, a senior official said that a factory of Salim Pradhan in Narayanganj occupied some public space. Authorities were forced to change the design of a flyover because of the factory. To do this, he used the influence of a big-time government leader.
