Md Abul Harris Chowdhury
মোঃ আবুল হারিছ চৌধুরী
Born
Md Abul Harris Chowdhury

(1952-11-01)1 November 1952
Died3 September 2021(2021-09-03) (aged 68)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
NationalityBangladeshi
Occupation
  • Politician
Political partyBangladesh Nationalist Party

Abul Harris Chowdhury (1 November 1952 – 3 September 2021) was a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Political Secretary of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. He was the Joint Secretary General of Bangladesh Nationalist Party.[1][2][3] Chowdhury was sentenced to 65 years in total and a life term in prison in absentia for allegedly committing multiple crimes.[4] His party alleges the charges were falsely given, along with those against Khaleda Zia’s son Tarique Rahman,[5] and many other senior party members.[6][7]

Career

In 1991, Chowdhury lost the Bangladeshi general election as a BNP candidate from the Sylhet-5 constituency.[4][8] 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.[9] He served as the political secretary of the then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia from 2001 to 2006.[10]

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.[9][11] In October, he was sentenced to three years in jail by a special anti-corruption tribunal for illegally possessing foreign currency.[12][13] 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.[14]

He was charged with involvement in the murder of former finance minister, Shah A M S Kibria, in 2005.[15] In November 2014, a supplementary charge-sheet was submitted accusing 35 people including Chowdhury.[16] Chowdhury was also charged with Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.[16]

Chowdhury was charged with involvement in the 15 August 2004 Dhaka grenade attack.[17] In December 2014, an arrest warrant was issued against him.[18] In February 2016, his properties were confiscated by the directives of Bangladesh High Court.[19] 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.[20] Interpol Red Notice had been served on him in November 2015.[21] According to CID and police headquarters sources, as of October 2018, Chowdhury was moving through Malaysia, London, Singapore, the United States and India.[21]

Personal life and death

Chowdhury is married to Josne Ara Chowdhury.[9] They have a son, Nayem Shafi Chowdhury, and a daughter, Samira Tanjin.[9] He has a younger brother, Selim Chowdhury, and an elder sister, Akhlasun Nahar.[9]

On 12 January 2022, Chowdhury's cousin announced in a Facebook post that Chowdhury had died from COVID-19 complications in London, United Kingdom, in September 2021, and was buried at the same location .[22][23] While his cousin's announcement was widely reported, other sources subsequently reported that Chowdhury had not died.[24][25]

References

  1. ↑ "Harris Chy among 9 charged with Kibria murder". The Daily Star. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  2. ↑ Manik, Julfikar Ali; Khan, Sharier. "Harris Chowdhury". The Daily Star. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  3. ↑ "High Court rejects former prime minister Khaleda Zia's plea". dna. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Where is Harris Chowdhury?". Bangla Tribune. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  5. ↑ Staff Correspondent. "Tarique Rahman, wife, victims of political vendetta: Fakhrul". Prothomalo. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  6. ↑ Ruud, Mubashar Hasan,Arild Engelsen. "What went wrong with the BNP, Bangladesh's main opposition party?". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 27 December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ "Former finance minister Kibria murder: 17 years on, justice remains elusive". www.dhakatribune.com. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  8. ↑ "Parliament Election Result of 1991,1996,2001 Bangladesh Election Information and Statistics". Vote Monitor Networks. Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Harris the fortune-maker". The Daily Star. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  10. ↑ "Sacked Sylhet mayor Ariful out of jail on bail". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "Jail term for Khaleda Zia adviser". BBC News. 21 May 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Three more top Bangladeshis held". BBC News. 28 May 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  13. ↑ "Harris Chowdhury jailed for 3 years". bdnews24.com. 14 October 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  14. ↑ "Harris Chowdhury to spend 10 years behind bars". 4 November 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  15. ↑ "Deputy speaker blames failure to try policemen's killers for Liton murder, seeks security for MPs". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  16. 1 2 "Khaleda's ex-political secretary Harris Chowdhury implicated in Kibria murder". Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  17. ↑ "Khaleda's ex-political secretary Harris Chowdhury implicated in Kibria murder". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  18. ↑ "Arrest warrants for Harris Chowdhury, BNP mayors in Kibria murder". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  19. ↑ "Court orders impounding of assets of 10 fugitives in explosives case over ex-minister Kibria murder". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  20. ↑ "August 21 attack: 'State-backed crime' punished". The Daily Star. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  21. 1 2 "Cops locate Harris among 8 fugitives of Aug 21 grenade attack". The Daily Star. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  22. ↑ হারিছ চৌধুরী যুক্তরাজ্যে মারা গেছেন, জানালেন চাচাতো ভাই. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  23. ↑ BNP leader Harris Chowdhury dies
  24. ↑ "BNP leader Harris Chowdhury hides under death rumor". Weekly Blitz. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  25. ↑ পরিচয় গোপন করতেই হারিছ চৌধুরীর মৃত্যু নাটক. Bangla Insider (in Bengali). 13 January 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
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