Salman F Rahman, former private industry and investment adviser to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has been accused of illegally taking control of an entrepreneur’s business institutions following abduction, according to an application filed by the police with a Dhaka court.

The application alleges that, on Salman’s instructions, the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police abducted businessman Md Nazrul Islam from his residence in the capital between 2am and 3am on 10 September 2022.

Nazrul was the chairman of Fareast Islami Life Insurance Company Ltd, Fareast Islami Security Ltd and Fareast Islami Properties Ltd.

He was also the chairman, managing director, shareholder and proprietor of Prime Insurance Company, Prime Asia University, Meghna Bank PLC, Bengal Commercial Bank, Ramisha Cold Storage Ltd, Punat Cold Storage, Fareast Cold Storage, Fareast Securities Ltd, Ramisha Composite Textile Ltd, Ramisha BD Ltd, Bimsha BD Ltd, M/S Ramisha Enterprise and M/S Bimsha Enterprise.

After the abduction, DB officers allegedly kept him confined to a secret location and subjected him to physical torture for three days, forcing him to sign numerous documents. He was later shown arrested in several cases.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) were allegedly used to further harass Nazrul, according to the application lodged by Sub-Inspector (SI) of Gulshan Police Station Abdus Salam with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court on 22 May last seeking to shown Salam arrested in a case.

The incident began to unfold in 2021, as per the investigation in connection with the case filed against Salman and some others at Gulshan Police Station on 4 May last.

It was found that Salman had asked Nazrul to run his business firms in line with his directives, the SI stated in the application.

He also mentioned that the DB police began to pressure him by calling him to Salman’s office in Gulshan in 2021. However, as Nazrul refused to comply with the orders, he was threatened in different ways.

Nazrul informed his boards of directors and sought protection from law enforcement agencies. However, Salman and his associates allegedly escalated their threats, even issuing death threats.

Fearing for his life, Nazrul and his wife left for the United States on 1 August 2021.

Following this, Salman, also vice chairman of Beximco Group, dissolved the board of directors of Fareast Life Insurance on 1 September of that year and formed a new one.

Nazrul tried to return home after hearing so, but his passport was blocked.

On 25 December 2021, he managed to return home and sought help from the authorities concerned against dissolution, but to no avail.

After that, the DB abducted him from his residence and took his signature. Nazrul and his wife were implicated in different cases.

According to the application, Salman then dissolved the boards of Nazrul’s two other companies -- Fareast Islami Security Ltd and Fareast Islami Properties Ltd-- and reconstituted them with his close associates. When Nazrul refused to resign from his chairman post, Salman, with support from officials at the Dhaka Stock Exchange, used forged signatures to remove him.

It is further alleged that Salman orchestrated negative media campaigns against Nazrul, publishing false reports to tarnish his reputation.

“Salman and his associates kidnapped Nazrul, removed him from his business institutions, financially harmed and embezzled money, and implicated him in false cases,” stated SI Salam in the application to show Salman arrested in the case.

Sources said former chief of Dhaka Metropolitan Police DB Harun Or Rashid led the abduction of the businessman.

The sources said 71 TV’s ex-Chief Executive Officer, Mozammel Babu and a former DGFI officer were made directors of the business institutions, while Sheikh Hasina’s uncle Sheikh Kabir Ahmed was made chairman, and former secretary Mohammad Ibrahim was made vice-chairman.

About the cases against Nazrul, a Special Branch (SB) report dated 28 August this year mentioned that he was implicated in six conspiratorial cases.

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