Jubo League leader Ismail Chowdhury Samrat, also known as the king of casino, is trying to save him from legal action by keeping himself confined inside his office in Kakrail.
Samrat, president of Dhaka South unit of Jubo League, the youth wing of the ruling party, remained inside the office since September 18 when elite force Rapid Action Battalion launched a crackdown against illegal casinos in Dhaka.
His deputy in the Jubo League and president of Young Man’s Club Khaled Mahmud was arrested on 18th September.
Since then, Samrat has been hiding inside his office at Bhuiyan Mansion opposite the Rajmoni Cinema Hall in Kakrail while his followers and activists of the youth front of the ruling party keep themselves outside in the streets to protect him.
During a visit from 11 am to 5 pm yesterday, this correspondent found the collapsible gate of the building closed all the time, with three security guards in front of the gate.
Several activists continue to guard the building 24/7 from the streets in front of the building, in different shifts. It has been known that the patrolling increases as the number of Samarat’s protectors during nights increase.
“I know nothing, just doing my duty,” the response from a guard came as this correspondent asked whether Samrat was inside.
Since 11.30 am, his followers started to come and go inside the office with 10 of them having little conversations outside the gate. The gate only opened when a known face is seen.
For the next two hours, followers of Samrat, in small groups of five to ten people, walked along the road and some of them went inside the building after talking to the security guard.
At roundabout 1.15 pm, 20-25 people, riding in 10 motorcycles got direct access to the building.
Although, some of them came out, about 20 of them were inside till 4 pm. At 5 pm, when this correspondent left the area, about 30 activists were seen standing in position outside the office building.
Some of them were talking on the formation of the new committee, while some others were talking about the security of their president Ismail Chowdhury Samrat. Some of them were observing if any journalists or law enforcers are watching them.
Some security guards of neighbouring buildings and shop owners told this correspondent that the number of guards was lesser than the previous days.
This correspondent attempted to contact Samrat several times but failed.
Will Samrat be arrested?
Security officials and the Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal continue to vow that action will be taken against anyone involved in the casino business, however top Jubo League leader Samrat, whose name appeared in different lists for involvement in the casino business, is still hiding in his office.
Although for the first few days the number of followers of Samrat was high outside his office, it gradually came down slimming the chance of his protection to evade any action by law enforcers.
Many of the followers are not seen visiting his office since the crackdown began.
Samrat is trying to flee the country citing need of a medical checkup, said some sources thus urgent initiative to arrest him should be taken.
