Abul Harris Chowdhury is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician who served as the political secretary of the then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. He is sentenced to 65 years in total and a life term in prison for committing multiple crimes. He had fled the country in 2007 and is a fugitive since then.
Career
In 1991, Chowdhury lost the Bangladeshi general election as a BNP candidate from the Sylhet-5 constituency. Before 2001, he was the president of National Institute for Deaf and Dumb when he hired eight to nine shops of the institution and launched car business through Asha Car Vision. He served as the political secretary of the then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia from 2001 to 2006.
Charges and convictions
Chowdhury has been a fugitive since the military-backed interim caretaker government took the power on 11 January 2007. Later that year, Chowdhury was charged by the caretaker government of acquiring his wealth through corruption. In October, he was sentenced to three years in jail by a special anti-corruption tribunal for illegally possessing foreign currency. In November, a Dhaka court sentenced him to 59 years in jail and fined him Tk 21 lakh on five counts of charges, including abuse of power and government-transport mishandling. Chowdhury was charged with involvement in the murder of former finance minister, Shah A M S Kibria, in 2005. In November 2014, a supplementary chargesheet was submitted accusing 35 people including Chowdhury. Chowdhury was charged with Zia Charitable Trust corruption case. Chowdhury was charged with involvement in the 15 August 2004 Dhaka grenade attack. In December 2014, an arrest warrant was issued against him. In February 2016, his properties were confiscated by the directives of Bangladesh High Court. In October 2018, a special court found Chowdhury and 37 others guilty in the grenade attack case. He was sentenced to life term in prison and fined Tk 50,000. Interpol Red Notice had been served on him in November 2015. According to CID and police headquarters sources, as of October 2018, Chowdhury was moving through Malaysia, London, Singapore, United States and India.
Family
Chowdhury is married to Josne Ara Chowdhury. They have a son, Nayem Shafi Chowdhury and a daughter, Samira Tanjin. Chowdhury has a younger brother, Selim Chowdhury, and an elder sister, Akhlasun Nahar.
