Former BNP lawmaker AKM Fazlul Haque Milon was arrested on corruption charges in the capital's Gulshan area early yesterday, a highly-placed Rab official said.
He was wanted in a case with Joydevpur Police Station in Gazipur for allegedly misappropriating corrugated iron (CI) sheets meant for relief, Gulzar Uddin Ahmed, additional director general of Rab, told the Daily Star yesterday afternoon.
He said the BNP man was caught under the Emergency Power Rules, adding that he will be handed over to Ramna Police Station. Ramna police confirmed that the ex-lawmaker was turned in to them last night.
Gulzar said Rab arrested the former Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal president when he was driving through the upscale neighbourhood in the predawn hours yesterday.
Milon had been absconding since the joint forces started the crackdown on corruption suspects.
The elite force also seized the Pajero jeep he was riding to examine its documents.
Milon sits on a number of committees of the BNP and its front wings: secretary general of Gazipur unit BNP, convener of Kaliganj upazila unit BNP, secretary general of Swechchhasebak Dal.
He had been a member of the parliamentary standing committe on communications ministry in the last parliament.
Elected to the parliament in 2001 from Gazipur-3 (Kaliganj) constituency, Milon was surrounded by allegations of corruption during the BNP-Jama'at alliance government and maintained close link with Hawa Bhaban.
He allegedly made a big fortune by selling sand from a stretch of the Shitalakhya River from Rupganj to Kapashia, which he leased from the government using political influence.
As he was the only BNP lawmaker from Gazipur district, all development fund for the district went through him, fanning the discussion among locals that he did not sign any bill prior to getting 10 percent of the project's money.
He allegedly also pocketed huge amount of money by managing for himself construction work through misuse of his political position.
Besides, local BNP leaders, picked by him, reportedly collected for him huge toll from local businesses, two cement factories being the frequented victims, local sources said.