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Police have arrested nine people, including Salim Prodhan, a controversial businessman previously jailed in connection with the 2019 casino scandal, on charges of running an illegal shisha bar in Dhaka's Gulshan.
They were detained in the early hours of Saturday at the establishment in the capital’s upscale Baridhara neighbourhood, police said.
“We have arrested nine people, including Salim Pradhan, at his bar. He was illegally operating a shisha bar,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Al Amin Hossain said.
Salim is chairman of Prodhan Group, under which a company called P24 Gaming had openly advertised online gambling operations on its website, bdnews24.com reports.
He first rose to prominence during the anti-casino drive in 2019, when he was detained at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport while attempting to travel to Thailand.
Subsequent raids by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on his homes and offices in Gulshan and Banani uncovered Tk 2.9 million in cash, large quantities of foreign liquor, and currencies from several countries. Two deer hides were also found, leading a mobile court to sentence him immediately to six months’ imprisonment under the Wildlife Conservation Act.
The following day, the RAB filed two further cases against him under the Narcotics Control Act and the Money Laundering Prevention Act. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) later brought charges of amassing wealth beyond known sources of income and money laundering, for which he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
After spending four years in jail, he was released on bail in October 2023.
In 2023, Salim attempted to return to public life by submitting nomination papers to contest the Rupganj Upazila Parishad chairman election. However, his candidacy was cancelled by election officials after scrutiny, due to his criminal conviction.
In June 2025, Salim surfaced in the political arena again, this time being appointed as chief advisor of the newly launched Bangladesh Republic Party.