As many as 40 Bangladeshi celebrities have recently been scammed, and later on, threatened by a person who claimed to be a Bangladeshi expatriate. The unknown caller, who identified himself as “Zubair,” collected copies of the passports and National ID (NID) cards of the celebrities, and later on, threatened them in a text message from a UK phone number. A general diary has been filed with Gulshan police station.

Celebrities including actors Sohana Saba, Ferdous Ahmed; singers Fahmida Nabi, Agun, Kona, Dinat Jahan Munni, Akhi Alamgir, Imran; lyricist Kabir Bakul, and many more were called by this person who claimed to be organizing a cultural event titled “Bangladesh Mela” from Sept 25 to Oct 3. He also said that the nine-day-long program will be held in three different phases at three different locations in London.

He later on collected the copies of the passports and national ID cards of the celebrities and invited all of them at the capital’s Westin Hotel on Sept 3. He told them that he will reach Bangladesh on the same day, and brief the celebrities there.

On Sept 2, he called the celebrities to confirm that he was boarding his flight headed to Dhaka, will land within 3pm and meet them at the Westin.

The invited celebrities reached the hotel on time, and all of them received a text message from the same UK number. The text message stated that a Bangladeshi celebrity had scammed Tk 30 million from Zubair, and he had discussed this with many local celebrities before but no one had given him any attention. He then threatened the celebrities that he will use the copies of their passports and NID cards to make sure that these celebrities can never go abroad if his money is not returned to him soon.

A general diary has been filed on the same evening at capital’s Gulshan police station. The celebrities are still receiving continuous threats from the same number. The last messages stated that, if the money is returned to Zubair then no one will be harmed; if not, then he will “show” what passport copies can do, and he was also giving death threats stating that within the next seven days one of the celebrities will be “finished.”

Celebrities have recently told the press that the situation is very humiliating, and embarrassing for them. They will discuss going to London and reporting this to the local police there soon.

Renowned Bangladeshi lyricist and journalist Kabir Bakul, who won four Bangladesh National Film Awards for best lyrics,  filed the general diary on behalf of the celebrities. “We are in a meeting about the issue right now, and will update the media soon,” he said.

Gulshan police's Inspector Kaiyum said that they confirmed of receiving a complaint and said they have opened investigations.