A most wanted criminal, Zeesan alias Zeesan Ahmed alias Ali Akbar Chowdhury has been arrested in Dubai, and Bangladesh police have already initiated the process to bring him back to the country.
Zeesan has long been a fugitive from Bangladesh due to his involvement in various criminal activities, including the murder of policemen, and extortion.
News of Zeesan’s arrest in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) surfaced on Wednesday. According to transnational police organization Interpol, he has been charged with murder, and possession of explosives.
Mohiur Rahman, assistant inspector general (AIG) of the National Central Bureau (NCB) of Interpol at police headquarters in Dhaka, said Zeesan was arrested last week with the help of NCB Interpol Dubai. The arrest was confirmed on Thursday.
NCB Interpol Dhaka has already started the process to bring Zeesan back to his home country, the AIG added.
Zeesan is wanted in connection with the murder of two officers of the Detective Branch (DB) of Police at a hotel in Malibagh in 2003. He fled to India in 2007, and later on ended up in Dubai. He has reportedly been controlling criminal activities in Bangladesh from the Middle East.
Screenshot from Interpol's website
Zeesan is one of 23 most wanted criminals listed by the Home Ministry, and there was a bounty on his head. Bangladesh Police had also issued a red alert against him.
AIG Mohiul Islam said they had been trying to capture the criminal for a number of years, and Interpol had also issued a red alert on him.
“We have been in touch with NCB Interpol Dubai for the last two-three months, and they had him under surveillance,” he added.
“Dubai Interpol notified Bangladesh that Zeesan had an Indian passport with his name as Ali Akbar Chowdhury, from Malugarh in Silchar of Assam. He also had a passport for the Dominican Republic. Interpol had asked for some documents on him from us, and they arrested him after we provided them,” the AIG further said.
Will there be an extradition?
Usually, the Interpol desks of different countries work together to detect the locations of wanted criminals, if a member country makes a request to the organization.
However, Bangladesh has not been successful in bringing back any criminals listed by Interpol for years, due to the lack of extradition treaties with other member countries.
Police sources confirmed that there is no extradition agreement with Dubai.
It is possible to bring Zeesan back to Bangladesh if he is taken to India first, as an Indian passport holder, before being brought to Bangladesh under the prisoner exchange treaty with India, they added.
Since Zeesan has been arrested on the basis of information provided by Bangladesh Police, they feel that they can bring back Zeesan directly, some police officials hoped, although adding that the chances are slim.
Police is keeping regular contact with Interpol for a smooth hand-over process, said the officials.
According to a number of sources, police arrested three cohorts of Zeesan, named Khan Mohammad Foysal, Ziaul Abedin Jewel, and Zahid Abedin Rubel, from Khilgaon with firearms on July 26.
The investigation revealed some information on Zeesan’s location, as he had ordered the trio to murder GK Shamim, who was recently arrested in connection with the illegal casino business in Bangladesh.
Zeesan reportedly has connections with other Bangladeshi casino kingpins as well, including Khaled Bhuiyan, and Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat. Shamim and Khaled are now in police custody.
According to sources, Shamim, Khaled, and Samrat met with Zeesan in Singapore in June this year, but the relationship between Shamim, and Zeesan subsequently deteriorated.
