Allegations have been surfaced against a former driver and his associates for torturing and extorting money from a female National Board of Revenue (NBR) official after abducting her from Sideshwari in Dhaka.

Three accused were arrested after a case was filed for torturing the woman after abducting her for Tk 50 lakh ransom.

Arrested Saiful Islam, Abu Bakar Siddique alias Sabbir and Yasin Arafat Raju were sent to jail as their one day remand was over. They confessed their involvement in the abduction under remand. The plaintiff has mentioned the names of six accused in her case.

It is learnt that the victim woman is Masuma Khatun. She works as joint commissioner (Taxes) at NBR's Taxation Zone-2. She was abducted from Ramna area on Friday last. The entire abduction was committed under the supervision of Masuma's former driver Masud. Police learnt that Masud is a member of an organised gang of abductors. However, police could not arrest Masud yet. Besides, police are also trying to arrest other associates of Masud.

She managed to free herself from the captivity of the abductors 18 hours after her abduction. On Saturday, a case was filed with the police station concerned. She is now undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the capital.

Police said several people physically assualted Masuma and her driver in front of Viqarunnesa Noon School and College at Sideshwari at about 8:00pm on August 18 last. Then they abducted Masuma from there and took her to a house at Sabujbagh area where they kept her confined at a garage for long 18 hours. They also broke a leg of the NBR official by inflicting torture upon her. Her eyes were also partially damaged.

Besides, the abductors snatched away Tk 1.5 lakh and cellphone from joint commissioner Masuma at night of the abduction. The ringleader assured the abductors that they would get a large amount of money if they could abduct Masuma.