Businessman reports gun attack on his Chattogram home over ‘extortion’

This follows an extortion call from “Boro Sazzad”, he says

A businessman in Chattogram has reported that his house was targeted in a gun attack by a group of criminals who arrived in a microbus, mere days after he refused to comply with an “extortion demand”.

Managing Director of the Chattogram-based Smart Group, the businessman Mujibur Rahman said the attack on his Chandanpura residence in the city was launched at 7am on Friday.

The attackers reportedly fired several rounds at his house while Mujib and his family were inside, before escaping.

No casualties, however, reported, said Hossain Mohammad Kabir Bhuiyan, a deputy police commissioner at the West Zone of the CMP.

An Awami League supporter, Mujib ran in the last parliamentary polls in 2024 as an independent candidate and won. He contested in the Chattogram-16 seat, which covered Banshkhali.

He said a man identifying himself as “Boro Sazzad” from Dubai had called to extort money from his business firm.

“I did not take it seriously. Later some people came and fired at my home,” he added.

Police said a team of eight had come to the house to carry out the attack.

WHO IS ‘BORO SAZZAD’?

Hailing from Chalitoli, Sazzad first came under the spotlight in the late 1990s. Known as a “cadre” of Islami Chhatra Shibir, he was accused in multiple criminal cases, including murder.

In 1999, he was implicated in the killing of Panchlaish ward councillor Liakat Ali Khan. On Jul 12, 2000, a lower court sentenced him to death by hanging for the killing of eight Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders, though the High Court later acquitted him.

After being arrested in 2000 with an AK-47 rifle, Sazzad reportedly fled to Dubai following bail. Interpol still lists him under a “red notice” as Sazzad Hossain Khan.

While in Chattogram, Sazzad allegedly ruled with support from his associates Nurunnabi Maxon and Sarwar Hossain Babul. The associates later became rivals. Two of them are reportedly dead, and Sazzad has been named the prime suspect in one of the cases.

Even after his associates left the group, intelligence reports indicate that Sazzad continues to control extortion and criminal activities in Chattogram from abroad.