Published : 02 Oct 2026, 06:23 PM
Updated : 02 Oct 2026, 06:23 PM
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch (DB) has taken Jamaat-e-Islami leader and former MP Akhtaruzzaman Ranjan into custody over an incident at Dhaka airport.
“DB has taken him into custody,” confirmed DB Additional Commissioner Shafiqul Islam.
Asked about the situation, he said: “DB personnel are at his house. He will accompany them once he finishes his prayers.”
A case had been filed against Akhtaruzzaman over allegations that he threatened the executive director of Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport during an argument over delays in distributing Zamzam water to Umrah passengers.
Shahriar Alam Sajib, a security officer of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), filed the case at Airport Police Station early on Friday, also accusing the former MP of assaulting a security supervisor on duty.
Kamrul Hasan Talukder, chief of the police station, told bdnews24.com that the complaint accuses Akhtaruzzaman, a retired Army major, of obstructing government work and making threats.
“We are investigating the matter,” he said.
The case follows an incident at the airport on Thursday after passengers arriving from Madinah on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight faced delays in receiving Zamzam water.
A video of the confrontation circulated on social media, showing Akhtaruzzaman berating Airport Executive Director Group Captain SM Ragib Samad.
“I’ll grab you by the neck and throw you out. You don’t work, you don’t do anything, you get postings through lobbying. Do you want to get beaten?” he was heard saying.
Biman later took departmental action against two officials over the delay in distributing the Zamzam water, citing alleged negligence.
According to the case statement, 34 Jamaat representatives and their families landed from Madinah on Biman flight BG-338 at 8:55am on Thursday. A heavy rush of arriving passengers left a long queue for trolleys, and several protocol assistants tried to jump it.
Some of the group later grew “agitated” over delayed baggage and the missing Zamzam water and behaved “indecently”.
Around 10:45am, Dhaka-5 MP Md Kamal Hossain summoned the executive director to the spot.
The executive director came at once and began talking to them.
Akhtaruzzaman, advancing aggressively, allegedly kept hurling “extremely rude, indecent and unspeakable” abuse at him.
The first information report (FIR) says the executive director “very calmly” tried to explain the extra passenger load and trolley management, but Akhtaruzzaman only grew angrier.
Calling his conduct “extremely aggressive and menacing”, the complaint says MP Kamal, fearing the situation would worsen, led the executive director to a safe distance.
Akhtaruzzaman then flared up again and threatened those present, it alleges: “You should all be tied up and beaten at the airport and put on social media, so that Tarique Rahman sees it, then you will fall in line. I'll throw you out by the neck.”
He also made “extremely indecent and insulting” remarks about Civil Aviation Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat, the FIR says.
“He is a bastard,” he allegedly said. “He is doing nothing for the airport.”
Protocol assistants accompanying him allegedly filmed the incident and threatened to make it go viral on social media.
Fearing a breakdown in airport security and discipline, Security Supervisor Md Kamal Uddin, who was on duty, told the group not to film in the airport's key point installation (KPI) area, according to the complaint.
Akhtaruzzaman allegedly rushed up to warrant officer Kamal Uddin, abused him in “unspeakable language” and at one point hit him.
The assault was not covered by CCTV, the FIR claims, but can be proved through the victim and eyewitnesses.
When a Biman Bangladesh Airlines representative later arrived, Akhtaruzzaman allegedly behaved rudely and aggressively with him too, and flung passengers' water bottles off trolleys.
Biman later took departmental action against two officials over the delay in distributing the Zamzam water, citing alleged negligence.
Akhtaruzzaman, a two-time former BNP lawmaker from Kishoreganj-2, joined Jamaat-e-Islami in December 2025.
The retired army major, who fought in Sector 3 during the Liberation War, had previously been expelled from the BNP three times after criticising the party’s leadership.
