In a dramatic pre-dawn raid, Bangladesh Army commandos on Tuesday arrested Subrata Bain—alias Fateh Ali—one of the country’s most infamous top criminals, in Kushtia.
Alongside him, three close associates—including Mollah Masud, alias Abu Russell Masud—were also apprehended.
Subrata Bain and Mollah Masud, leaders of Dhaka city’s notorious Seven Star group, are listed among Bangladesh’s 23 most-wanted criminals. They face multiple charges, including murder and extortion.
According to law enforcement officials, Subrata Bain is suspected of involvement in three recent murders in Dhaka’s Hatirjheel and Gulshan areas, as well as several cases of land grabbing and extortion.
A police official disclosed that on April 21, Arif Sardar, 35, a ward-level Jubo Dal member, was fatally shot in Hatirjheel. Police suspect that Subrata Bain’s gang was behind the killing.
Police sources also claimed that Subrata recently smuggled weapons from India, which his associates have used in various criminal activities, including murder.
The rise of Subrata Bain and the Seven Star Gang
Subrata Bain’s criminal journey began in the 1990s, when he quickly rose to notoriety in Dhaka’s underworld.
Born in 1967 at Holy Family Hospital in Dhaka, Bain was the eldest of four siblings in a family that had migrated from Barisal.
After attending school in Barisal and Dhaka, he entered the criminal world shortly after enrolling at Siddheshwari College.
Influenced by local political leaders, he formed a gang in Moghbazar, which later evolved into the infamous “Seven Star Group.”
Co-led by Bain and Amin Rasul Sagor (also known as Tokai Sagor), the Seven Star gang became synonymous with violent turf wars, extortion rackets, and the manipulation of public tenders throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.
Bain first came into the spotlight in 1991 after murdering a student leader, Murad, in Agargaon.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing but managed to secure bail and returned to criminal activities.
According to a series of reports by Kamrul Hasan—a crime reporter in 1990s Dhaka and now editor of a national daily—Subrata Bain worked for the BNP during the 1991 elections in the Moghbazar area.
Hasan said: “He became very close to the then home minister. His birthday party was once held at Madhubagh field in Moghbazar, attended by several top BNP leaders. That event made Subrata infamous as a star terrorist.”
Kamrul Hasan further reported: “At the time, Jubo League leader Liakat controlled Moghbazar. BNP supporters backed Subrata to take control of the area from Liakat. Then, in 1994, Subrata led a triple murder in the Dhaka University area. He was also involved in multiple other killings, including those of Rafiq of Moghbazar and Khokon of Siddheshwari.”
A police report states that top terrorist Murgi Milon was shot dead in the Dhaka court area on September 27, 2000. The main accused in the murder was Subrata’s Seven Star Group.
Subrata Bain’s notoriety eventually crossed national borders. In 2001, Interpol issued a Red Notice against him, prompting his flight to Kolkata, India, where he continued his criminal activities.
He reportedly owns significant property there, including a house and a farmhouse, allegedly funded by extortion in Dhaka.
Although he was arrested by Kolkata police in 2008, he escaped to Nepal.
On November 8, 2012, Subrata and 12 others escaped from Nepal’s Jhumka Jail by digging a 77-foot tunnel.
He was rearrested by Indian police on November 27, 2012, from a house in Kolkata’s Bow Bazar area.
Since then, Subrata had been held in an Indian prison.
However, two years ago, various media outlets reported that Indian authorities had pushed him back across the border and handed him over to Bangladeshi security forces.
According to those reports, he has since been held in a secret prison in Bangladesh, known as ‘Aynaghar’.
Subrata Bain was reportedly released from the secret facility along with others following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
A report published in Amader Shomoy stated that he was released on August 6, the day after the regime change.
Following his release, media reports claimed that he resumed his previous activities.
Prothom Alo reported that Subrata Bain and his associates were seen at Bishal Center in Moghbazar on September 29.
Following his recent arrest, a Dhaka court on Wednesday granted an eight-day remand for Subrata Bain and a six-day remand for three others, including Abu Russell Masud alias Mollah Masud, in a case filed under the Arms Act at Hatirjheel Thana.
What Subrata Bain is saying?
Subrata Bain, has said that he was kept in a 'secret prison' known as ‘Aynaghar’ for two and a half years during the Awami League regime and was released on the night of 5 August.
He made this statement at the court on Wednesday.
In his statement he urged journalists in the country not to engage in yellow journalism and write false report about him.
He also blamed the media for portraying him as an extortionist and said, he is a 'powerless' and 'moneyless' man.
Subrata said: “Journalists gather so many news. But two and a half years ago they (the then government) kept me in an Aynaghar, but that news was not published,”
Claiming that he was brought to the country in handcuffs in 2022, he said: “I was kept in an Aynaghar, which was as tiny as a grave. They beat me with iron rods.”
“I have been tagged as a criminal, extortionist. Show me any evidence where I have committed extortion or robbery. Arrest those who are extorting misusing my name,” he added.
Subrata also commented that if he had money, he would have opened a newspaper and a television office.
He said: "I have no power, I don't need power. Power revolves around me. I bow down to the greatest power."
Claiming that the arms found on him was for security reasons, he said: "Who wants to die?"
"I have enemies since 1984-85. Liaquat, Murgi Milon, Amir Hossain Amu were my enemies. I reached in this position after fighting against them,” He added.
Subrata Bain addressed journalists before the remand hearing and said: “Write the truth, write perfectly about me, don’t write anything else.”
"Journalists write without knowing anything. I have a family too," Subrata continued.
"I hope the new generation of journalists will tell the truth," he said.
