At a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) office on Friday, he first alleged that Nasser demanded Tk 2 crore in illegal toll from him, triggering a denial from the legislator.

Issuing a statement last night, Nuruzzaman again claimed that Nasser and his associates had threatened him by phone, an allegation dismissed immediately 'as untrue' by the deputy.

In a separate statement, Opposition Chief Whip Abdus Shahid protested Nasser's claim that his younger brother had assisted Nuruzzaman in staging Friday's press conference.

Nuruzzaman also alleged that the officer-in-charge (OC) of Gulshan Police Station did not entertain his general diary for the threat by, what he claimed, Nasser and his associates by phone.

The Daily Star could not reach the Gulshan OC for his comment last night, but the duty officer said none named Nuruzzaman had gone there to file a GD.

In an apparent rebuttal of Nasser's statements to the press, Nuruzzaman said his father was not a 'gang-leader or dacoit', rather he was a well-known businessman who performed the hajj twice.

He also denied that the opposition chief whip and ruling BNP lawmaker Mahbubur Rahman were his mentors.

Talking to The Daily Star last night, Nasser Rahman dismissed the fresh allegation levelled against him, saying 'the whole matter was politically-motivated."

"He (Nuruzzaman) is a floating man. I don't know his phone number and so the question of threatening him by phone does not arise," Nasser countered.

Once again he blamed a senior lawmaker of his own party for masterminding what he termed 'a smear campaign'.

About the opposition chief whip's protest that his younger brother was not a lawyer and Nasser's statement about him was not factual, Nasser said: "I did never say his (Shahid) brother is a lawyer. The fact is that Nuruzzaman himself told reporters on Friday that the opposition chief whip's brother took him to the DRU for holding the press conference."