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Published : 25 Oct 2023, 10:58 AM
Former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain has died in a Dhaka hospital at the age of 72.
The former Madaripur-3 MP was suffering from cardiac ailments and breathed his last at the United Hospital in Gulshan on Wednesday, said Kalkini Upazila Awami League President Tahmina Siddiqui.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed her condolences over his death.
"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed deep shock at the death of former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain," Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Zahid Tushar said.
Hossain was born in 1951 in the village of Dasar in Madaripur. He completed his bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Dhaka in 1972 and his master's in 1974.
Hossain, a valiant freedom fighter, left behind wife Khaja Nargis, and daughters Syeda Rubaiyat Hossain and Syeda Iffat Hossain.
Hossain was the managing director and chairman of SAHCO International Ltd. He was elected a member of parliament in general elections in 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2008 representing the Madaripur-3 constituency.
He also served as the minister of information and communication technology. He was the international affairs secretary of the Awami League from 1991 to 2012.
Hossain was the communications minister in 2011 when Bangladesh signed a contract with the World Bank to build the Padma Bridge. He had to step down in 2012 following a corruption allegation.
Later, a Canadian court acquitted him, while the Anti-Corruption Commission in Bangladesh did not find any proof against him either.
After many complications, Bangladesh scrapped its contract with the World Bank and constructed the Padma Bridge with local funding. But Syed Abul Hossain never returned to politics.
In a statement given in 2017, Hossain blamed some newspapers and ‘dignitaries’ for the false allegation.
His body has been kept at the morgue in the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka. The place and time of his burial will be finalised after a discussion with his family, said his nephew Syed Shakhawat Hossain, president of Dasar Upazila Awami League.
