Club owners, criminals plotted actor Sohel murder: Rab

Actor Sohel Chowdhury was murdered for standing up against immoral activities of a Banani club which was co-owned by the arrested Ashish Roy Chowdhury alias Botol Chowdhury and Asadul Islam alias Bunty Islam.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) revealed the information at a press conference, saying Ashish has confessed to his involvement in the sensational murder.

Ashish, the prime accused in the murder case, was arrested from the capital's Gulshan on Tuesday night.

Ashish said that the now-defunct Tramps Club was established in 1996 at the Abedin Tower in the capital's Banani area.

At one point, the club became a meeting point for underworld figures of the time, including Aziz Mohammad Bhai, RAB said, citing Ashish.

Sohel Chowdhury, along with the mosque committee of the nearby Banani Jame Masjid, repeatedly tried to stop the "illegal and immoral activities" of the club, which ended up hurting the business interests of the club owners and the Dhaka godfathers.

This led to a confrontation between Sohel and Aziz on 24 July, 1998.

The club owners and Aziz hired notorious criminal Sanjidul Islam alias Emon to get rid of Sohel.

On 19 December, 1998, Emon shot Sohel Chowdhury outside the now-defunct Tramps Club.

A murder case was filed in this regard with Gulshan police station following a complaint lodged by Sohel's brother Towhidul Islam Chowdhury.

On 30 July, 1999, Abul Kashem Bepari, additional police commissioner of the Detective Branch (DB), submitted a charge sheet against nine people in the case.

On 30 October, 2001, Dhaka's third additional metropolitan session judge court framed charges against the nine accused. Two years later, the case was transferred to the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-2.

The trial in the case has remained suspended for 19 years. Of the nine accused in the case, two, including Ashish, had remained absconding.

Ashish's luck ran out yesterday as Rab arrested him from Gulshan.

He had left his Mirpur DOHS house and rented a flat in Gulshan after a new arrest warrant was issued on 26 March this year. He had been hiding in this house since 30 March, Rab said.