Raid at former minister Mohibul’s house, 7 detained

Police raided the residence of former education minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury, a member of the ousted Awami League government, in Chattogram city. Seven people present at the residence were taken into custody. Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury is the eldest son of the late ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, former mayor of Chattogram City Corporation.

The raid was carried out today, Wednesday, at around 3:30 pm in the Chashma Hill area near Gate 2 of the city by personnel from Pahartali police station. The identities of those detained could not be confirmed immediately. Following the operation, police seized the residence’s CCTV DVR box for verification and investigation.

Police said the raid was conducted following a Facebook post claiming that several people were gathering here to join the activities of the banned Awami League tomorrow, Thursday.

According to police, Mohibul Hassan’s younger brother Borhan and BNP leader Niyaz used to run a restaurant called ‘Cafe Milano’ in the Gate 2 area. Although it has been closed since 5 August last year, they continued selling food online. The seven detainees were allegedly working at this restaurant, police added.

Acting officer-in-charge of Pahartali police station, Mohammad Solaiman, told reporters, “We received a Facebook post stating that people were gathering here ahead of the 13 November programme. It mentioned that food was being brought in for those gathering, but we found no such evidence. The detainees are being taken to the police station for questioning.”