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The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has filed a chargesheet in court against “top-listed” gangster Subrata Bain and three of his associates in a case filed under the Arms Act following a raid in Dhaka’s Hatirjheel area earlier this year.
The three others named in the charge sheet are Subrata’s accomplices Abu Rasel Masud alias Molla Masud, MAS Sharif, and Arafat Ibn Nasir.
Inspector Aminul Islam of the DB, who led the investigation, submitted the chargesheet to the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Wahiduzzaman on Sunday.
The judge subsequently transferred the case to the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court for trial, according to Sub-Inspector Moksedul Islam of the prosecution team.
Subrata, also known as Fateh Ali, was arrested along with Molla Masud on May 27 during a pre-dawn operation by the Bangladesh Army in Kushtia.
Based on intelligence obtained during interrogation, two more operatives, Sharif and Arafat -- both known by their single names-- were picked up later from Hatirjheel.
The Army reported seizing five foreign-made pistols, 10 magazines, 53 rounds of ammunition, and a satellite phone during the raid.
Following the arms seizure, Hatirjheel police SI Asaduzzaman filed the case on May 28 under the Arms Act.
The case document notes that Subrata was listed in 2001 by the Ministry of Home Affairs among 23 top criminals, with cash rewards offered for information leading to their arrest.
He led the infamous “Seven Star Group”, accused of widespread extortion, murder, and armed robbery in the early 2000s before fleeing to India.
According to the case, Subrata returned to Bangladesh after Aug 5, 2024, following the ousting of the Awami League government, and resumed criminal activities. Police allege the gang regularly held meetings and stockpiled weapons at a house in Hatirjheel owned by Sharif, where the latest arrests were made.
While the case cites his return post-2024, conflicting details appear in the report of the Commission on Enforced Disappearances. It traces Subrata's history of evasion: fleeing to India in 2003, arrested by Kolkata's Special Task Force in 2008 with firearms, released on bail in 2009, and later apprehended again near the Nepal border in September that year.
After escaping from a Nepali jail through a tunnel in November 2012, he re-entered India, where he was reportedly arrested once more. According to the commission, Subrata was secretly handed over to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in 2022 under a covert prisoner swap deal between the two countries.
The report states Subrata was held in RAB custody at the Task Force for Interrogation (TFI) cell in Dhaka, where his detention remained undisclosed until the fall of the ruling government. He was released sometime between Aug 6–7, 2024, during the political transition.