Retired Lieutenant General Masud Uddin Chowdhury, a former lawmaker and once a prominent figure during the army-backed caretaker government, was arrested in a late-night police operation in the capital.
Shafiqul Islam, chief of Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police, confirmed that Chowdhury was taken into custody from his residence in Baridhara DOHS early Tuesday. He said the former general faces “around five cases,” though details of the charges were not immediately disclosed.
Police sources reported that Chowdhury was arrested from House 153, Lane 2 of Baridhara DOHS and later taken to the DB office for questioning.
Masud Uddin Chowdhury served as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Army’s 9th Division in 2007. Following the political changeover known as “One-Eleven,” he became the coordinator of the National Coordination Committee on Combating Serious Crimes. The committee was headed by then home affairs adviser, retired Major General MA Matin.
Although not publicly visible, Masud was widely believed to have controlled and directed joint forces operations behind the scenes during the state of emergency. The forces, led by military officers, detained top politicians and business figures for interrogation and later filed corruption cases against them.
After the BNP-Jamaat alliance government stepped down in late 2006, political tensions escalated. President Iajuddin Ahmed assumed the role of chief adviser of the caretaker government, triggering protests led by the Awami League and its allies, who also announced a boycott of the national election.
The situation of nationwide violence subsided on January 11, 2007, when President Iajuddin declared a state of emergency and stepped down as chief adviser. The scheduled January 22 election was cancelled.
That turning point came to be known as “One-Eleven.” BNP leaders believe they would have returned to power through the election if the event had not occurred, while opposition parties also accused the president of attempting to engineer such an outcome.
Masud Uddin Chowdhury is considered one of the key military figures behind the imposition of emergency rule and the installation of the military-backed caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed.
As a close associate of then Army Chief Lieutenant General (later General) Moeen U Ahmed, he effectively ran the powerful committee that oversaw arrests of senior leaders from both BNP and Awami League, as well as prominent business figures.
Former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, and current Prime Minister Tareque Rahman, were also arrested at the time and faced corruption charges.
During that period, allegations emerged of a so-called “Minus Two Formula,” aimed at removing the top leadership of both major political parties and reshaping the political landscape. Although political activities were banned, efforts were made to form a new political party named “Nagorik Party” under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus, though he later withdrew from the initiative.
After about a year and a half under the caretaker government, Masud was appointed Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to Australia in June 2008. The Awami League government, which came to power in 2009, retained him in the position until June 2011.
Masud Uddin Chowdhury was a member of the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini formed in 1975, later integrated into the Bangladesh Army.
After retiring from the military, he joined the Jatiya Party led by H M Ershad in 2018 and was elected as a Member of Parliament from Feni-3 constituency in the 11th parliamentary election.
