Abul Harris Chowdhury (born 1 November 1952) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Political Secretary of Prime Minister
Begum 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 ...
. He was the Joint Secretary General of
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 ...
. Chowdhury was sentenced to 65 years in total and a life term in prison in absentia for allegedly committing multiple crimes
that his party says he was falsely charged with along with the party leader Begum Khaleda Zia’s son
Tarique Rahman
Tarique Rahman is a Bangladeshi politician who is the current acting chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) since February 2018. He has been residing in London with his family since he left Bangladesh in September 2008.
Early life and ...
and many other senior party members.
Career
In 1991, Chowdhury lost the
Bangladeshi general election as a BNP candidate from the
Sylhet-5 constituency.
Before 2001, he was the president of National Institute for Deaf and Dumb when he hired eight to nine shops of the institution and launched car business through Asha Car Vision.[ He served as the political secretary of the then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia from 2001 to 2006.
]
Charges and convictions
Chowdhury has been a fugitive since the military-backed interim caretaker government took power on 11 January 2007. Later that year, Chowdhury was charged by the caretaker government of acquiring his wealth through corruption. In October, he was sentenced to three years in jail by a special anti-corruption tribunal for illegally possessing foreign currency. In November, a Dhaka court sentenced him to 59 years in jail and fined him Tk 21 lakh on five counts of charges, including abuse of power and government-transport mishandling.
He was charged with involvement in the murder of former finance minister, Shah A M S Kibria
Shah Abu Muhammad Shamsul Kibria (Bengali: শাহ্ আবু মুহাম্মদ শামসুল কিবরিয়া ; 1 May 193127 January 2005), known as SAMS Kibria or Shams Kibria, was a Bangladeshi economist, diplomat ...
, in 2005. In November 2014, a supplementary charge-sheet was submitted accusing 35 people including Chowdhury. Chowdhury was also charged with Zia Charitable Trust corruption case The Zia Charitable Trust corruption case refers an ongoing corruption case in Bangladesh that relates to corruption over the misuse of funds in a charity named after former President Ziaur Rahman. Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh is ...
.[
Chowdhury was charged with involvement in the 15 August ]2004 Dhaka grenade attack
The 2004 Dhaka grenade attack took place at an anti-terrorism rally organised by Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue on 21 August 2004. The attack left 24 dead and more than 500 injured. The attack was carried out at 5:22 pm after Sheikh Has ...
. In December 2014, an arrest warrant was issued against him. In February 2016, his properties were confiscated by the directives of Bangladesh High Court. In October 2018, a special court found Chowdhury and 37 others guilty in the grenade attack case. He was sentenced to life term in prison and fined Tk 50,000. Interpol Red Notice
An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats by police in a member state (or an authorised international entity) to their counterparts around the world. The in ...
had been served on him in November 2015.[ According to CID and police headquarters sources, as of October 2018, Chowdhury was moving through Malaysia, London, Singapore, the United States and India.]
Personal life and death
Chowdhury is married to Josne Ara Chowdhury.[ They have a son, Nayem Shafi Chowdhury, and a daughter, Samira Tanjin.][ He has a younger brother, Selim Chowdhury, and an elder sister, Akhlasun Nahar.][
On 12 January 2022, Chowdhury's cousin announced in a Facebook post that Chowdhury had died from ]COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
complications in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, United Kingdom, in September 2021, and was buried at the same location . While his cousin's announcement was widely reported, other sources subsequently reported that Chowdhury had not died.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Harris
1947 births
Living people
Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians
Bangladeshi politicians convicted of crimes
Place of birth missing (living people)
Date of birth missing (living people)
Bangladeshi male criminals
People from Sylhet District