Top criminal Zeesan will be brought back from Dubai soon: Kamal

Top fugitive criminal Zeesan Ahmed, who has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates, will be brought back to Bangladesh soon, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said.

“The process to bring Zeesan back is under way. We hope we will bring him back very soon,” he told the media after inaugurating a Puja Mandap in Dhaka on Friday.

The Interpol National Central Bureau in Bangladesh is preparing the paperwork that will be sent to Dubai for his extradition, Assistant Inspector General of Police Mohiul Islam, who is working at the NCB, said earlier.

Zeesan, who is on the Interpol's red notice list, was apprehended by police in Dubai four days ago but his identity was confirmed on Wednesday, according to Mohiul.

At the time of his arrest, he was carrying an Indian passport which identified him as Ali Akbar Chowdhury, the police officer said.

Later, the National Central Bureau in Dhaka and its Dubai counterpart analysed and exchanged information to uncover his real identity as Bangladesh's top criminal Zeesan, he said.

Zeesan alias Monty was named in the home ministry's list of 23 'top criminals' in 2001 along with a reward for his arrest.

He terrorised businessmen in Dhaka's Motijheel, Malibagh, Badda, Gulshan and Banani between the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was also notorious for extortion and tender-grabbing.

In May 2003, two officers of the Detective Branch of Police were killed in an operation to arrest him in a hotel in Malibagh. The incident caused a stir across the country.

Later, Zeesan went into hiding and fled to India, from where it is believed he went to Dubai.

Interpol subsequently issued a red notice against him at the request of Bangladeshi law-enforcement and its website lists charges of murder and possession of explosives. It also describes him as holding dual citizenship in Bangladesh and the Dominican Republic.

Zeesan had reportedly been controlling the crime world of Dhaka from Dubai.

His name came up recently after the arrest of Jubo League leader Khaled Mahmud Bhuiyan and contractor SM Golam Kibria Shamim.

A newspaper reported by the end of last month that the law enforcers were certain about Zeesan’s location in Dubai with him carrying an Indian passport after getting information from Shamim and Khaled during interrogations.