Abduction and sexual assault case in Queens: Six Bangladeshis in custody

Meru Sikder: New York

The incidents of separate abduction and murder as well as sexual assault in Jamaica, Queens, New York, involving two individuals have caused uproar in the Bangladeshi community. All six individuals involved in the incident are Bangladeshis. This incident of “abduction” is possibly the first of its kind in the Bangladeshi community. The two incidents occurred on March 27 and May 11, 2023, respectively. On January 10 of the current year, Wednesday, the court sent six Bangladeshis to jail after charging them. The United States Attorney’s Office confirmed this information in a press release last Thursday, January 11. The accused are Syed Rubel Ahmed (43), Shahed Alam (29), Abu Chowdhury (28), Anju Khan (28), Sultanat Rajia (38), and Iffat Lubna (24). Abu Chowdhury and Lubna are married.

According to court sources, these six individuals are accused of abduction and conspiracy to abduct one person. In addition, there is another accusation against Abu Chowdhury and his wife, Lubna, for a separate abduction.

Brian Pease, the National Counsel for the Eastern District of New York, stated that on March 27, 2023, Rubel Ahmed, Shahed Alam, Abu Chowdhury, Anju Khan, and Sultanat Rajia abducted another Bangladeshi from near 181st Street in Jamaica Hillside Avenue using a Honda SUV and threatened him with murder. They also physically assaulted him. Later, they forcibly abducted him from the car and continued to assault him while taking him to a deserted location. At that time, the abducted person lost consciousness after being given water mixed with sedatives. The next day, he regained consciousness in a local hospital.

In the Brooklyn Federal Court on Thursday, January 11, the defense attorney for the accused, Sarah Sachs, represented Sultanat Rajia. She claimed that the abducted person had been a victim of sexual abuse by her husband, Makkel, for the past 5 years. And she committed this incident out of self-defense. She argued that Sultanat Rajia grabbed him by his hair. She was trying to protect herself.

Furthermore, on May 11, 2023, Abu Chowdhury and Lubna abducted another Bangladeshi near 72nd Street on the Upper East Side of New York City. At that time, Abu Chowdhury forcibly lifted the abducted person into a minivan and began assaulting him. Later, they took the abducted person to a hotel and Abu Chowdhury sexually assaulted him. Abu Chowdhury then called the abducted person’s father and demanded $20,000 for his release, according to court documents. Three days after the abduction, Abu Chowdhury dropped him off at an abandoned house with his eyes covered. The prosecutor has found evidence to support this.

Rubel Ahmed, Shahed Alam, Anju Khan, and Sultanat Rajia were arrested on January 10, while Abu Chowdhury and Lubna had already been arrested earlier. Another accused person is still at large in this incident.

Notably, after a long investigation by officers from the FBI and the New York Police Department’s Detective Branch, the Joint Violent Task Force, the court gave its verdict after providing the report.