Azgar faces charges for his involvement with a number of crimes, mostly of extortion and murder, in areas under Cantonment, Gulshan and Badda police stations. He sent his cell-phone number to retired army officer Yunus Ali when he was building a house in Manikdi area on Wednesday and asked Yunus to contact him.

Azgar introduced himself as an aide to 'Kala' Jahangir and demanded Tk 2 lakh when Yunus phoned him. Azgar also threatened him with death and disrupting his construction work if he did not get the money.

Yunus consulted the Rab Battalion Headquarters in Uttara and agreed to pay Azgar Tk 50,000 in Joarsahara area in Badda at around 8:00pm Friday.

Rab men ambushed Azgar and his associate Sabbir Ahmad when they went there to receive the money.

A team of the elite anticrime force, meanwhile, arrested Monir Hossain, another top criminal of Cantonment Police Station, from Kakoli in Gulshan at 5:30pm yesterday.

Officer-in-Charge of Cantonment Police Station Abdul Malek said Azgar and Monir are close associates of 'Kala' Jahangir and control crime syndicates in the area.