CHATTOGRAM, Oct 24: Jubo League (JL) Leader Firoz, also known as 'Dakat Firoz', was arrested on Thursday by a team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in a case filed over leading to the death of 16-year-old grocery shop worker, Saimon, during the July-August Anti Discrimination Mass Movement in Chattogram.
He was arrested from Rampura area of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway in Feni at around 9:30 am.
On July 18, Firoz and several other Awami League activists attacked protesters with firearms and batons, which led to Saimon's death in gunfire, according to the case filed at Chandgaon Police Station against Firoz and 43 others by a friend of the victim.
In one video, Firoz was seen loading and brandishing a shotgun during the attack, which later went viral on social media. Sources say he was also seen opening fire during the movement at the city's Bahaddarhat area.
Confirming the arrest, RAB-7 Senior Assistant Director (Media) Sharif-ul-Alam said that Firoz has been involved in numerous crimes across Chattogram, with five cases filed against him, including murder, possession of illegal firearms, sabotage, drug trafficking, and robbery.
Firoz, the son of Abdul Hamid from Muradpur, became infamous following his violent involvement in Muradpur, Chattogram, during the movement, which started as a protest against discriminatory job quotas across the country.
RAB-7 handed him over to Chandgaon Police Station for further legal actions.
Sources said, once known as a 'Shibir cadre' in Chattogram's criminal underworld, Firoz later rebranded himself as a Jubo League leader, frequently appearing at the forefront of party marches and public gatherings. He became the associate of then mayor of Chattogram City Corporation and General Secretary of City Awami League AZM Nasir Uddin.
Despite his political facade, he remained deeply involved in criminal activities, particularly in extortion and control of illegal operations in the Muradpur-Bahaddarhat area. He was allegedly seen at the office of Shamim Uddin, a sibling of Nasir Uddin, the sources also said.
Firoz's criminal record stretches back over a decade. On February 4, 2011, he, along with other armed criminals, looted Tk 11 lakh from a diagnostic center at Prabartak intersection in the city. He was arrested the following day along with another accomplice, Moniruzzaman, and a cache of illegal firearms was recovered from a residence in Panchlaish. The law enforcers among other weapons, seized two foreign pistols, a single-barrel gun and ammunition.
During interrogation in police custody at that time, Firoz claimed that the arms belonged to Maxon and Sarwar, both of whom are notorious criminals of Chattogram.
On July 19, 2013, Firoz was arrested again with a 9mm pistol and live ammunition. He is also one of the accused in the Chattogram schoolgirl Tasfia Amin murder case.
Firoz managed to evade imprisonment for a long time and continued his reign of terror, despite the fact that he was arrested multiple times, according to the sources.
nazimuddinshyamol@gmail.com