A court has granted a five-day remand for Masud Uddin Chowdhury—a former army officer prominent during the 1/11 period and a former lawmaker from Feni-3—for questioning in a human trafficking case.
The order was issued on Tuesday afternoon by the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Islam Junayed following a hearing.
Public Prosecutor of the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court, Omar Faruk Faruqi, confirmed the matter.
Masud Uddin Chowdhury was arrested on Monday night from Baridhara in the capital by the Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police. According to police, he faces six cases in Feni district and five cases in the Dhaka metropolitan area. He was later shown arrested in a human trafficking case filed with Paltan police station and produced before the court.
Masud Uddin Chowdhury served as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 9th Infantry Division of the Bangladesh Army in 2007.
He played a key role in the political changeover during the 2007–08 Bangladeshi political crisis and was appointed coordinator of the National Coordination Committee on Combating Serious Crimes.
He was promoted to lieutenant general, and anti-corruption drives were conducted under the committee during that period.
In 2008, he was appointed Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to Australia. The Awami League government later extended his tenure three times. After retirement, he became involved in several businesses, including restaurants in Dhaka.
Masud Uddin Chowdhury was elected twice (in 2018 and 2024) as a Member of Parliament from the Feni-3 constituency (Sonagazi–Daganbhuiyan) under the nomination of the Jatiya Party.
Ahead of the 2018 general election, he initially sought nomination from the Awami League but later joined the Jatiya Party, where he became a member of its presidium and contested the election under its banner.