Coordinator Apu has become a money-making machine since August 5th

Staff Correspondent

NCP leader and coordinator Jane Alam Apu, who was arrested while trying to extort money from a female Awami League MP in the capital’s Gulshan, is a resident of Punghardighi, a remote village in Akkelpur upazila of Joypurhat. The people of the village know him as ‘Pakna Chele’.

Apu was the joint convener of the central committee of the Bangladesh Democratic Students’ Union (BAGCHAS). After the political upheaval of August 5, the wheels of his fortune turned. He became a money-lending machine. He embezzled crores of taka through mob terrorism. Several other coordinators joined him. Apu became their gang leader.

Apu, who grew up in a lower-middle-class family, went to Dhaka and became part of a syndicate. Her father worked in a company in Dhaka and died about 10 years ago. After his death, her mother married elsewhere, and her younger sister lives with her mother. There is a two-story house and another mud house in the village, although they keep it locked because no one visits it. She lived with her grandparents as a child. That’s where her path to student politics began, and she joined the Chhatra Dal.

After the so-called ‘coup’ in 2024, Apu Baicha gained influence as a coordinator. His life began to change. He presented himself as a powerful figure. He used expensive clothes, personal cars, and posted photos on Facebook with influential advisors, politicians, and high-level police officers of the Yunus government. By displaying all this, Jane Alam used extortion tactics by intimidating Awami League leaders and activists and businessmen.

He became the owner of a huge fortune overnight through the use of fake and harassing lawsuits, extortion by threatening to expose him as an Awami League associate, and blackmailing him.

When he first visited his home district Joypurhat on August 11 last year, the then Superintendent of Police Mohammad Nur Alam and the current Superintendent of Police Muhammad Abdul Wahab greeted him with flowers. Apu posted that picture on Facebook and introduced himself to the local dignitaries. Everyone started respecting him.

However, the villagers were not surprised by such an incident. They already knew about Apu’s tricks.

Villager Shafiul Alam said, “We did not find such incidents unusual in his behavior. Everyone knows him as Pakna Chele. We know many cases of him extorting money by intimidating people. But now he is in touch with influential people, so everyone is silent.”

Members of Apu’s maternal uncle’s family also said that Apu had not been in touch with them for a long time. Grandmother Akhlakunnesa Bakul said that he did not come here much after his mother’s marriage. Aunt Jasmine Akhter said that she heard that he had a second marriage in Dhaka.

Akkelpur Upazila Chhatra Dal convener Dewan Tanvin Newaz said, Apu was involved in Chhatra Dal politics around 2022. At that time, he was expelled from the party due to a women’s scandal. After that, he joined multiple political parties. Now, he is presenting himself as a big leader on Facebook by posting pictures with influential people from the ruling party. He is using these for extortion.

Another Chhatra Dal leader and online activist, Arman Hossain, said that his lifestyle changed after August. His source of income is extortion and lobbying. People in the area know about him well. We have come to know that he has built up a huge wealth and bank balance in Dhaka.