A special tribunal today indicted former Awami League lawmaker Kazi Zafarullah for extorting Tk 50 lakh from a businessman.
Zafarullah pleaded not guilty when Judge Shafiul Azam read out the charge against him.
Businessman Gazi Golam Dastagir filed the case, complaining that the ex-MP had forced him into paying the money.
In another case, the same court indicted BNP leader and ward commissioner of Dhaka City Corporation, Chowdhury Alam, and his accomplice Rahmat Ali for extorting about Tk 23.94 crore from Bangabazar shopkeepers.
Sheikh Shahjahan, president of shopkeepers' association, filed the case, alleging that Chowdhury Alam and his accomplice extorted the money as toll from 2001 through 2005.
The accused pleaded not guilty when the charge was read out to them.
Both the cases will go to trial on February 28.