Wednesday's grand opening of Arav Jewellers in Dubai hit the headlines with many Bangladeshi showbiz stars and musicians and several international cricketers joining the event in person or campaigning for the business via video messages on Facebook.
After reading the stories on the jewellery owner's fraudulent activities and past crimes, many netizens were caught by surprise as to how a criminal like Rabiul Islam Apon alias Shohag alias Hridoy alias Hridi of Gopalganj, who is wanted in at least nine cases, could enjoy the highest level of impunity over the last eight years.
Social media users wanted to know how Rabiul, now Indian national Arav Khan, obtained bail after being arrested with illegal arms in his possession in Dhaka twice -- at Moghbazar in 2015 and at Gulshan in 2017.
Later, he became an integral part of a blackmailing gang and earned a large sum of money by targeting the sons of rich people.
He was also the sixth accused in a case filed over the torture and death of Special Branch Inspector Md Mamun Emran Khan at a house in the Banani area on July 7, 2018.
This time, he was briefly arrested but escaped again with the help of a senior police officer (now retired from service), sources in the Detective Branch (DB) of police told Dhaka Tribune. The same officer gave him money to open the jewellery business in Dubai.
On March 31, 2019, Rabiul and nine others were charged by the police. A Dhaka court also issued an arrest warrant against him since he was on the run.
On October 20, 2020, a youth named Abu Yusuf Limon of Chandpur appeared in court as Rabiul's proxy in exchange for money and was sent to jail. But after serving nine months in jail, Limon confessed and disclosed his real identity to the jail police.
How he sneaked into India
After an investigation, detectives found that the master of disguise was beyond their radar. DB police also learned about a passport that Rabiul possessed in the name of Hridi Sheikh, but he did not use this passport while crossing the border.
Son of farmer Motiur Rahman Molla and Lucky Begum, Rabiul was born in Ashunia village of Gopalganj's Kotalipara Upazila. But, as per his latest passport, he is an Indian national residing in the Kandarpopur area of Narendrapur in Kolkata. His father's name is also different.
After the murder of the Special Branch Inspector , Rabiul sneaked into India and married a woman, Sajeema Nasrin, in Assam on February 23, 2020.
Before his wedding, Rabiul changed his name to Arav Khan, and his father's to Jakir Khan, and identified himself as a businessman, according to the marriage deed.
An Indian passport was issued in his new name on July 28, 2020, as he flew to Dubai, the most populous city and luxury tourist destination in the UAE.
In October 2021, he opened a company in Dubai together with his wife and a UAE citizen named Hamda Ali Hatim Ali Albalooshir. On October 31, he acquired a resident identity card for three years, according to media reports.
However, on Facebook, he identifies himself as a Bangladeshi.
Rabiul did not respond when contacted via Facebook Messenger on Thursday morning.
How detectives detected the fugitive
Since February, several Bangladeshi newspapers and TV channels have reported on the grand inauguration of Arav Jewellers, as Rabiul launched a massive campaign.
Bangladeshi law enforcers came to know about Rabiul's luxurious Dubai life on February 3 this year when Arav Khan on his Facebook profile posted a video of national cricketer Shakib Al Hasan, who had invited all to join the inauguration of Arav Jewellers.
Now detectives say they will take all possible measures to bring him back to Bangladesh and produce him in court for the crimes he has committed.
In his native village at Ashunia under Hiron Union of Kotalipara, Rabiul is known by the nickname Apon. During a visit to the village by this correspondent, the family's semi-pucca house was found under lock and key.
Villagers said Rabiul was known in the locality as a thief and mugger. They knew that he had been facing several cases, including one for the murder of a police officer.
His father Motiur Rahman Molla used to earn a living by working in the fields and catching fish, they said, adding that Rabiul recently took his parents to Dubai.
Our Gopalganj Correspondent Monoj Kumar Saha contributed to this report.
