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Published : 04 Aug 2025, 02:49 PM
The body of former Army chief M Harun-Ar-Rashid, Bir Protik has been recovered from the Chittagong Club Guest House.
The retired lieutenant general was also the president of Destiny Group.
Shahidul Islam, president of the Destiny Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, confirmed his death.
The 77-year-old Harun served as Bangladesh’s Army chief from 2000-2002. On Sunday, he came to Chattogram to answer a summons in a case over financial irregularities involving Destiny Group. He was staying in the Chittagong Club Guest House’s Room 308.
Shahidul said, “We had a summons in a case scheduled for today. All of us came to court, but he did not arrive even after the scheduled time passed. He could not be reached on the phone either.”
“We informed the guest house and they entered the room to find him lying unconscious. People then came from the CMH. They came and found that he was no longer with us.”
“An Army vehicle had arrived in the morning for him,” said retired commander Md Ashraf Uddin, secretary of Chittagong Club Limited. “We were informed that they could not reach him by phone. We entered through the back door and found him lying in bed.”
The cause of the former Army chief’s death is not yet clear.
Abdul Karim, chief of Chattogram Kotwali Police Station, said: “He was at the club’s guest house last night. We came after it was reported. We will provide details of what happened and how at a later time.”
Destiny Group Managing Director Rafiqul Amin, who was also in Chattogram to answer the court summons, rushed to the Chittagong Club when he heard the news.
To the media, he said: “We had come to Chattogram several times previously in response to summons in court cases. He had a flight booked for tomorrow morning. We were to leave today. That was how we had discussed it.”
Harun was born on Feb 15, 1948 and is a native of Chattogram’s Hathazari. He joined the Pakistan Army and was stationed at the 4th East Bengal Regiment when he defected and joined the Liberation War. He received recognition as a Bir Protik for bravery during the war.
He was appointed as Army chief in December 2000. He retired in 2002 and served as Bangladesh’s ambassador to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
A former secretary general of the Sector Commanders Forum, Harun joined the Destiny Group as its president in 2006. Over the next few years, the conglomerate’s business expanded in many sectors.
In 2012, amid allegations of fraud and irregularities, anger and protests from affected customers, he went to prison.
He was later released on bail in consideration of “his health and social status”.
A court sentenced him to four years in prison on May 12, 2022 in a case by the Anti-Corruption Commission for embezzling money from Destiny Group’s customers.
Harun was the first former Army chief since HM Ershad to be sentenced to jail in a case.
