Joint forces raid Haji Salim’s house in Chawkbazar

The joint forces have raided the house of former Awami League lawmaker Haji Mohammad Salim in the capital’s Chawkbazar.

The drive started around 12:00 pm in the house named ‘Gulshan Ara Masud’ on the Debidas lane of Chawkbazar today, Sunday. However, no specific reason has been provided so far regarding the reason behind the raid.

Asked about this, Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Lalbagh division deputy commissioner Mallik Ahsan Uddin told Prothom Alo that he does not know the details of the drive. However, the joint forces wanted police. He provided it as per the demand.

Police arrested Haji Salim from the Bangshal area of Old Dhaka on 1 September last year after the fall of the Awami League government. He was then taken into custody for questioning.

Haji Salim was first elected as a member of parliament from the Dhaka-8 constituency on the Awami League ticket in 1996.

In the 2001 election, he was defeated by the BNP candidate, the late Nasir Uddin Ahmed (Pintu).

In the 2014 general election, Haji Salim contested as an independent candidate from the Dhaka-7 constituency and won after failing to secure the Awami League nomination.

He was again elected as an MP with the Awami League’s nomination in the 11th parliamentary election in 2018.

However, his parliamentary membership came under scrutiny after he was sentenced to 10 years in a corruption case. He was briefly imprisoned in connection with the case but was later released on bail.

Haji Salim did not contest the 12th national parliamentary election held in January last year. His son, Solaiman Mohammad Salim, was elected from Dhaka-7 with a nomination from the Awami league. He is currently in custody too.