Altaf Hossain Chowdhury is a former chief of

Bangladesh Air Force The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ বিমান বাহিনী, Bangladesh Biman Bahini) is the aerial warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The Air Force is primarily responsible for air defence of B ...

and a

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল, Bangladesh Jātīyotābādī Dol; BNP) is a centre-right to right-wing nationalist, political party in Bangladesh and one of the major ...

politician. He served as a minister of home affairs and commerce during 2001–2006. He was a

Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ, lit=National Parliament, translit=Jatiyô Sôngsôd), often referred to simply as the ''Sangsad'' or JS and also known as the House of the Nation, is the supreme legislative body of ...

member representing the

Patuakhali-1 Patuakhali-1 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh since 2019 by Shahjahan Mia of the Awami League. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Dumki, Mirzaganj and Patuakhali Sadar upazilas. ...

constituency in the same period.

Career

Military

Chowdhury started his career as a fighter pilot in the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

, qualifying as a lead pilot in the

Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizonta ...

. In 1971 he was a

Flight Lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

. He joined the

in 1972 as a

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

after being released from detention by Pakistan. Between 1974 and 1977 he was instructor at the pilot training school. He was the Chief of Bangladesh Air Force from 1991 to 1995.

Political

After retiring from the military service in 1995 he joined

. He went on to serve as a minister of different ministries and a

member during the BNP administration from 2001 until 2006. Chowdhury served as the president of Patuakhali district BNP in 2008. He lost both the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and 2018 general elections to the

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

candidate

Shahjahan Mia Shahjahan Mia is a Bangladesh Awami League politician. He is the current Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ, lit=National Parliament, translit=Jatiyô Sôngsôd), often referred to simply as the ''Sang ...

. As of 2016, Chowdhury has been a Vice chairman of the party.

Charges

Chowdhury was taken into custody of joint forces in May 2007 during the caretaker government regime. The force seized a shotgun and a rifle, 99 bullets, 970 pieces of saree and 160 pieces of lungi of the government relief materials from his Patuakhali residence. On 18 December 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case against Chowdhury for concealing wealth information and amassing wealth worth beyond known sources of income. In April 2017, the High Court cleared the way for a lower court to resume the trial proceedings. On 26 February 2008, ACC filed another case accusing

Khaleda Zia Khaleda Zia (; born Khaleda Khanam Putul in 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Ba ...

and 10 of her former cabinet members, including Chowdhury, of taking bribe in the Barapukuria coalmine deal. In December 2017, the High Court asked Chowdhury to surrender to a lower court within four weeks in this case. On 11 June 2011, Chowdhury and

Hafizuddin Ahmed Bir Bikrom Hafizuddin Ahmed is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician, a retired Bangladesh Army major, and a 6-term Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Bhola-3 constituency. He fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War and was awarded the ...

were arrested and sent to jail in connection with an arson case. They were later freed on bail.

Personal life

Chowdhury is married to Suriya Chowdhury. Chowdhury's two brothers, Babul Chowdhury and Shahin Chowdhury, were accused in an armed robbery case in Mirzaganj Upazila in Patuakhali in 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Altaf Hossain 1940s births Living people People from Patuakhali district Chiefs of Air Staff (Bangladesh) Bangladesh Air Force air marshals Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians 8th Jatiya Sangsad members Home Affairs ministers of Bangladesh Commerce ministers of Bangladesh Place of birth missing (living people)