Staff Reporter:
In a significant blow to Dhaka’s criminal underworld, an army-led joint forces team on Friday arrested Mehedi Hasan alias Dipu, a close associate of notorious top criminal Subrata Bain, from a house in Post Office Lane in Madhya Badda, recovering a large cache of sophisticated foreign firearms and ammunition.
Police said the house belongs to Mehedi Hasan. During the raid, the joint forces recovered 11 modern foreign-made weapons and 394 rounds of bullets from a flat on the third floor of the building, signalling what investigators described as a “major arms hub” linked to organised crime networks in the capital.
The law enforcers also seized eight pistol magazines, 32 cartridges, a .22 Uzi submachine gun, two Uzi magazines, three Chinese cleavers, a tiger hunting commando knife, two walkie-talkies, a walkie-talkie battery, three pistol side covers and a laptop, underscoring the scale and sophistication of the underworld network now under intensified scrutiny.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Badda Zone) Md Asaduzzaman told the Daily Sun that a case has been filed against Mehedi under the Arms Act.
“He has been placed on a five-day remand for interrogation,” he said.
According to police sources, Mehedi had long been operating as a key enforcer for Subrata Bain, controlling criminal activities in Rampura, Banasree, Badda, Bhatara, Baridhara and Gulshan areas after Bain’s arrest.
The recovered weapons are believed to belong to Subrata and another top criminal, Mollah Masud, both of whom were arrested in a joint forces operation in Kushtia in May last year.
Investigators said that following Subrata’s arrest, Mehedi effectively took charge of managing the underworld operations, including extortion, arms trading and contract killings.
The case statement noted that Mehedi, as Subrata’s associate, had been involved in selling arms and ammunition in different parts of the capital for a long time.
The police also believe that more weapons remain in the possession of his associates.
Subrata was one of the most feared names in Dhaka’s crime scene during the 1990s, notorious for controlling tenders and running large-scale extortion rackets, often leaving a trail of murders and violent attacks.
Investigation sources said Mehedi worked closely with several known criminals, including Wasir Mahmud Saeed alias Boro Saeed, Golam Mortuza Babu alias Madhu Babu, and Sohel alias Kanni Sohel.
Over the past year, the group has allegedly been involved in multiple killings, including the 20 March shooting death of a businessman named Suman in front of Police Plaza in Gulshan. Wasir Mahmud Saeed was arrested in that case but later secured bail.
Police sources also indicated that Mehedi maintained close ties with former Ward-37 councillor of Badda, Md Jahangir Alam and his brother Alamgir.
According to detectives, Subrata re-emerged openly after 5 August last year, collecting weapons from a neighbouring country and reasserting dominance in several areas. From a fish market located in a residential area of Merul Badda, Subrata Bain and his associates allegedly collected extortion money amounting to several lakhs of taka daily.
After Subrata’s arrest, Mehedi took control of the operation, along with extortion from car showrooms, garment factories and other businesses, and control over the scrap trade.
Detective Branch sources said that Mehedi and his associates also worked as hired killers in Badda, Bhatara and adjacent areas, renting out weapons to other criminals. A significant number of Subrata’s weapons are believed to be held by Mehedi and Madhu Babu, who reportedly possess at least 13 or 14 more firearms.
In another high-profile case, Jubo Dal leader Md Arif Sikder was shot on 19 April in front of The Jheel Cafe at Naynatola under Hatirjheel police station and later died from his injuries.
Investigators said Subrata’s associates were involved in the killing and that his daughter, Khadija Yasmin, was brought on remand for questioning over the incident.
DB police sources said Subrata is currently in Cumilla jail, while his daughter allegedly acted as a messenger, passing instructions from him to associates, including Mehedi and Babu.
