Nurul Islam Babul ( bn, নুরুল ইসলাম বাবুল, 3 May 1946 – 13 July 2020) was a Bangladeshi business magnate. He was the founder and chairman of the business conglomerate

Jamuna Group Jamuna Group is one of the largest Bangladeshi industrial conglomerates. The industries under this conglomerate include Textiles, Chemicals, Leather, motor cycles, Consumer products, Media, Advertisement etc. Jamuna was established in the 1970 ...

. He died on 13 July 2020 after being hospitalized in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

for a few days.

Early life

Nurul was born in Nawabganj, Dhaka to Amjad Hossen and Jomila Khatun in a Bengali Muslim family.

Career

Best known for the

and

Jamuna Future Park Jamuna Future Park is a shopping mall in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was inaugurated on 6 September 2013. Construction began in 2002, by Jamuna Builders Ltd., a subsidiary of the Jamuna Group and the exterior was completed in 2008. It has a total floor ...

, Babul was also the owner of the Bangla daily

Jugantor ''Daily Jugantor'' ( bn, দৈনিক যুগান্তর) is a Bengali daily newspaper in Bangladesh. The newspaper is printed and published by Jamuna Printing and Publishing Ltd. established in 1999, and administrative operations are o ...

. He founded the group in 1970s. In April 2003, Babul was arrested by

Bangladesh Police The Bangladesh Police ( bn, বাংলাদেশ পুলিশ) of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a law enforcement agency, operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It plays a crucial role in maintaining peace, and enforcement ...

for making a death threat against the then chairman of the Board of Investment and founder of the

Amar Desh ''Amar Desh'' ( bn, আমার দেশ) is a defunct daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka in the Bengali language since 2004. ''Amar Desh'' provides news about Bangladesh from local and regional perspectives and covers interna ...

newspaper Mahmudur Rahman. He was later released on bail. In the same case he was also accused of land grabbing charges in Savar. Prior to this incident, the former Bangladeshi State Minister of Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar filed a case against Babul where he accused Babul of threatening to kill him. Babul was arrested in 2004 in connection with the murder of a dredger worker, Alam Pramanik, who was working on a real estate project in

Badda Badda ( bn, বাড্ডা) is a Thana of Dhaka District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was formed in December 1998 from parts of Cantonment Thana and Gulshan Thana. Badda is adjacent to Rampura, Gulshan and Baridhara Thanas. Geogra ...

in 2003. Around 100 law enforcement officers from various security agencies of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

raided Babul's house in Gulshan, Dhaka shortly after midnight in March 2004. The raid was monitored by the then Home Minister Lutfozzaman Babar and had permission from the Prime Minister's Office. He was denied bail by the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. A case was filed by the owner of the dredger who claimed that 12 of Babul's men forcefully entered the dredger where his workers (including Pramanik) were sleeping and opened fire. An injured Pramanik was taken to a hospital where he later died. Babul's defence lawyers claimed that these allegations were a part of a conspiracy that was hatched by people who were jealous of Babul's success and wanted to ruin his image. In May 2013, Babul along with his wife

Salma Islam Salma Islam (born 1 January 1955) is a Bangladeshi lawyer, journalist, politician, and an MP from 11th parliament (reserved seat). She was an MP of Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad representing the Dhaka-1 constituency. She served as state minister of ...

and son Shamim Islam were sued by the National Board of Revenue for tax evasion and providing false information about their income. The 3 accused were charged for dodging over Tk. 45 crore in income tax and not submitting wealth statements of Tk. 155 crore in their tax returns. The NBR also filed cases against 7 companies of

. In 2013, the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

attempted to arrest Babul from the residence of former Bangladeshi President

H M Ershad Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad ( bn, হুসেইন মুহাম্মদ এরশাদ; 1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi Army Chief politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990, a time ma ...

Personal life

Babul was married to

, ‍a member of the Jatiya Sangsad from the Jatiya Party. He had 4 children with her: Shamim Islam, Soniya Islam, Monika Islam and Rozalin Islam. In June 2020, Babul tested positive for the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

amidst the

COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh The COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Bangladesh in March 2020. The first ...

. Subsequently, he was admitted to the Evercare Hospital in

Death

Babul died on 13 July 2020 aged 74 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 COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

complications during the

at the Evercare Hospital in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babul, Nurul Islam 1946 births 2020 deaths People from Dhaka District Bangladeshi businesspeople Bangladeshi chairpersons of corporations Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh Burials at Banani Graveyard