Bangladeshi authorities formally charged the son of the country’s former prime minister with extortion on Sunday, police said.Police filed charges with a magistrate’s court against Tarique Rahman for allegedly extorting $147,000 from a construction company, police investigator Mahbub Morshed said. Rahman has denied the accusation.Rahman, son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, is a senior leader in her Bangladesh Nationalist Party and has been widely seen as a potential successor to his mother.The charges are part of a popular anti-corruption drive by the military-backed government that took control of the government amid deadly rioting over allegations that the Nationalists had planned to rig elections scheduled for January 22. President Iajuddin Ahmed declared a state of emergency on January 11 and postponed the polls.Rahman, the eldest of Zia’s two sons, faces two to five years in jail if convicted.-PARVEEN AHMED
