A prominent Chattogram businessman who refused to pay a multi-million taka extortion demand is now in relative calm after weeks of gun attacks on his home, in a case police say exposes a coordinated criminal network targeting the city’s business elite.
Mujibur Rahman, managing director of Smart Group and a former lawmaker, said he was attacked not for political reasons but for resisting a wider extortion racket. “Many were called for money. We said no – that is why we were attacked,” he said.
Investigators say the network, allegedly operated from abroad, demanded Tk100 million from Rahman using a Dubai-based number, identifying itself as the gang of a top criminal known as “Boro Sazzad”. His residence in Chandnapura, under Chawkbazar Police Station, was first sprayed with bullets on 2 January, damaging windows and doors.
The pressure escalated in stages – threats to family members, then company officials, and finally direct attacks on Rahman himself.
Violence peaked on 28 February, when masked gunmen armed with sophisticated weapons opened sustained fire near his home despite police presence, raising serious concerns about law and order in the port city.
Police and the family say the attacks were not isolated. Multiple businesspeople were targeted simultaneously, with some reportedly choosing to pay quietly to avoid confrontation. Those who resisted, they say, bore the brunt of the violence.
Following the January attack, police set up temporary checkpoints and intensified patrols in the area. Joint operations by police and the Rapid Action Battalion led to several arrests and the recovery of submachine guns and foreign-made pistols.
Authorities say the alleged mastermind remains abroad, directing an organised syndicate that extorted leading businessman across Chattogram.
“This was a major challenge. Surveillance continues and we are working to identify and arrest the remaining members,” said Aminur Rashid, assistant commissioner (media) of Chattogram Metropolitan Police.
Police presence has since been scaled back, though patrols and intelligence monitoring continue. Rahman’s family has resumed daily life, with children back in school and business operations ongoing.
Yet questions linger over how deeply such extortion networks are entrenched. Rahman’s case, observers say, reflects a broader reality – where doing business increasingly entails navigating organised threats.
His refusal to comply has brought rare visibility to what many describe as a long-standing but largely unspoken system of coercion. For now, calm has returned to the Chandnapura residence. Whether it will last remains uncertain.
