A criminal case has been initiated against Md Arman Uddin, personal assistant to Chattogram-15 parliamentarian and Jamaat-e-Islami central working committee member Shahjahan Chowdhury, over accusations of demanding 2 million Taka in extortion, alongside commercial property occupation and looting. The legal petition was brought on Sunday before Chattogram Chief Judicial Magistrate Khadija Akhter by an expatriate businessman, Amir Hossain, who resides in Paschim Kalauzan village within Lohagara Upazila. Details of the legal action emerged into the public domain on Monday.
Alongside the primary accused, the complaint identifies four other local residents from Lohagara Sadar: Shawkat Ali, Adil, Anwar, and Joynal Abedin. Having formally accepted the petition, the magistrate instructed the Additional Superintendent of Police for Satkania Circle to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the incident and submit a formal findings report to the court.
Court records outline that Hossain is the proprietor of Aziz Complex, a four-storey mixed-use commercial and residential building in Lohagara. A retail shop selling steel wardrobes occupies part of the ground floor alongside tenanted living quarters. Over several months, a syndicate purportedly spearheaded by Arman Uddin and his brother, Arif Uddin, persistently demanded 2 million Taka from Hossain, claiming that non-local businessmen operating in the area were required to pay protection money or risk losing control of their properties entirely.
Matters came to a head in the early hours of 3 April at roughly 2:00 AM, when Arman allegedly telephoned Hossain to reiterate the financial demand. That night, the accused syndicate broke the padlocks of the ground-floor wardrobe outlet rented by a merchant named Obaidul. The group carted away twelve three-door steel wardrobes, three two-door units, and various goods valued at roughly 1,158,659 Taka, in addition to stealing 120,000 Taka in cash from the register. The accused also instructed residential tenants within the building to pay their monthly rents directly to the syndicate.
Hossain was working abroad when the premises were initially ransacked. Upon his return to Bangladesh, he attempted to resolve the dispute through dialogue. The confrontation intensified on 20 August when the group allegedly returned to the premises, renewed their 2 million Taka demand, and asserted they would maintain physical control over the building until the full sum was surrendered.
Arman has been linked to multiple controversies in the locality over the past two years, including accusations of abducting and torturing a commercial trader for ransom, illicit sand extraction, issuing semi-official recommendation letters for canal excavation to political allies, and leaked audio recordings involving administrative staff.
Dismissing the current allegations, Arman stated that he departed Bangladesh for Saudi Arabia on 7 August to perform Umrah, contending that he could not have been present at Hossain’s property on 20 August and challenging the complainant to furnish verifiable telephone records. He made no comment regarding the alleged 3 April raid. Satkania Circle Additional Superintendent of Police Ariful Islam Siddiqui confirmed that police are aware of the proceedings and will take immediate statutory action once formal court orders are received.
