Police have arrested former lawmaker Lt Gen (retd) Masud Uddin Chowdhury. He allegedly played a key role during the army-backed caretaker government following the 1/11 political changeover in 2007, when he was serving as GOC of the Ninth Infantry Division.
During that period, BNP leaders accused him of responsibility for the arrest and alleged torture of Tarique Rahman, son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia and the party’s senior joint secretary general.
Around midnight, a team of Detective Branch of Police led by its chief Shafiqul Islam raided Masud Uddin’s residence at Baridhara DOHS and arrested him.
Shafiqul said he is accused of five cases. Verification is underway, and he will be shown arrested in one of those cases. There is also a warrant in a case filed during the anti-discrimination student movement, he added.
The cases against him were filed in Feni, including one involving allegation of human trafficking, DB chief Shafiqul said.
Masud Uddin headed the national cell for serious crime control under the caretaker government and was promoted to lieutenant general during that time.
In 2008, he was appointed Bangladesh’s high commissioner to Australia. Even after his retirement from the army, then Awami League government extended his diplomatic tenure multiple times.
After that, he returned to Bangladesh and was elected to parliament in 2018 from Feni-3 constituency as a candidate of the Jatiya Party.
