Millionaire Student leader

Nazrul Islam Babu son of a poor Union Parishad member late Shahidur Rahman. Babu now owns a fancy apartment in Bailey road, Siddheshwari.  He also reportedly owns houses in Shanir Akhra and a 5-storied house in his brother’s name in Nasrshingdi.

by fayza rahman

It’s not good time for politicians, neither for student leaders who have always had significant role in Bangladesh’s politics. Chhatra Dal president Azizul Bari Helal is behind bars while GS Shafiul Babu is on the run. Liaqot Sikdar, President of the last Chhatra League Committee finds his name included in the suspected graft list as well. The surprise omission is Nazrul Islam Babu, General Secretary of the last Chhatra League committee though he is reputed to have surpassed most of his peers just mentioned when it comes to crimes.

Before joining Chhatra League Babu used to be a close associate of Chhatra Samaj leader Loton-Jhoton in the Ershad era. In old Dhaka’s Dholaikhal area Babu had been a dreaded terrorist. He was however intelligent enough to join Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) following Ershad’s fall. AL leader and former mayor Md. Hanif and some others helped him in this and gradually Babu ascended the ladder and at one point got the coveted post of GS. Babu exploited this post to make money and he did it pretty well and amassed a fortune.

He does not have any known source of income but he reportedly owns 73 shops including 11 of them in GPO Khaddar Market, 25 in Gulistan Muktijoddah market, 15 in Gulistan railway market in his or someone’s else’s name. He has a 100-loom textile mill in Araihazar, Narayanganj and two storied luxurious house in Bazpi village under Araihazar.

Son of a poor Union Parishad member late Shahidur Rahman Babu now owns a fancy apartment in Bailey road, Siddheshwari.  He also reportedly owns houses in Shanir Akhra and a 5-storied house in his brother’s name in Nasrshingdi. He is said to possess some buses that ply in Dhaka-Narshingdi route.

Babu is known to patronize an old Dhaka based terrorist gang, which he uses to organize violent crimes like setting fire in vehicles during hartals and blockades sponsored by political parties. He also managed to establish good relation with Tareque Rahman through another BCL leader Jahangir Sattar Tinku who is now in jail. Babu is said to have made money from Tarique by giving him advance information about agitation program.

After AL came to power in 1996 Babu became reckless and got involved in toll collection and tender dealing. From the poor weavers to the knit garment businessmen in Narayanganj no one escaped from Babu. When he was GS he made lacs by assisting interested persons getting into BCL district, university and college committees. He was also Chairman of Cooperative Marketing Society’s Chairman, a post which he exploited to make crores from illegal sales in north Bengal.

The ongoing anti-corruption drive by the government has seen a good number of corrupt people arrested and jailed. But some are still at large and Babu is one of them. Though he does not have any known income source he maintains fancy car and makes frequent foreign tours. How long people like him would remain at large?

Millionaire

n 73 shops including 11 of them in GPO Khaddar Market

n 25 in Gulistan Muktijoddah market

n 15 in Gulistan railway market in his or someone’s else’s name

n He has a 100-loom textile mill in Araihazar, Narayanganj

n Two storied luxurious house in Bazpi village under Araihazar.

n A fancy apartment in Bailey road