The Ragusa mobile squad, in Sicily, arrested a citizen of Bangladesh on various charges, among them aiding and abetting clandestine migration and slavery.

25-year-old Atikul A. has been charged with being part of a criminal association -- with a base in Libya, Bangladesh, and Italy -- aimed at aiding and abetting clandestine migration and slavery. He has also been charged with committing crimes of slavery, torture, and kidnapping aimed at extortion in Libya, against a fellow national.

The investigation that led to his arrest began last July, according to police, after an alleged victim contacted staff at a local hotspot.

Victim of alleged extortion scheme reached out to authorities

The alleged victim, also from Bangladesh, was able to reach Italy and was placed at the Pozzallo hotspot. The man, after having suffered many months in prison in Libya where he was "subjected to inhumane and degrading torture" had his family make ransom payments in Bangladesh to help him in Libya.

Once at the Pozzallo hotspot, the man reportedly met with Atikul A. who had arrive on another boat. The man was reportedly subjected to new requests for cash and then reached out to those running the hotspot and pressed charges for what he had suffered in Libya.

Police said that the alleged victim's witness account and the analysis of a cell phone confiscated from the suspect allowed them to verify the existence of a criminal network based in Libya, with active bases in Bangladesh and Italy, that smuggled people from Bangladesh to Libya and eventually Italy. Investigators also allege that they found evidence that the 25-year old suspect had kidnapped and tortured people.

A. allegedly -- together with other unidentified persons -- showed the families of the migrants on video calls "scenes of inhuman violence and torture against their family members and asked them for a high price to free their relatives", said the police.