The New Nation - Internet Edition

Kailash Sarkar

The Rapid Action Battalion yesterday seized an enormous amount of diamond, gold, white-gold, foreign liquor, share certificates and bonds of different companies, huge foreign currencies, credit cards of different banks, firearms and various other valuable materials from a city house.

These items were seized from the Dhanmondi residence of Mahbubur Rahman alias Joinal, Managing Director (MD) of Hotel Purbani International in the city's Motijheel area.

The recovery was made hot on the heels of the seizure of the country's biggest ever haul of Yaaba tablets worth Tk 15 crore on October 24, RAB said.

According to RAB sources, the seizure list included at least three trunks full of ornaments of diamond, gold and white gold, share certificates worth Tk 28 crore, bonds worth Tk 20 lakh, Tk 52 lakh in cash, foreign currencies worth Tk 60 lakh, 50 credit cards, 165 bottles of foreign liquor, four firearms with huge number of bullets and cartridges, six sharp weapons, four passports, four packets of viagra, sex stimulating tablets, and various other materials.

Eyewitnesses said after the recovery of the ornaments and currencies, RAB had hired three machines from different banks for counting the money.

They also hired specialists to identify the diamond and gold and estimate its market prices. They conducted the raid for around 20 hours.

RAB-3 Wing Commander Colonel Sultan Ahmed Nurani said, "It will take more time to count all the money, estimate the worth of currencies, and ornaments."

Sources said before the raid at Dhanmondi, RAB conducted another raid at Karnafuli Garden City in Shantinagar and detained six model girls, including BD Foods model Shahin Shila.

Colonel Nurani told The New Nation that the drive was followed by the confession of Aziz Mohammad Bhai's nephew Amin Huda, who was arrested with Yaaba tablets worth Tk 15 crore.

"Most of the items recovered from the house were extremely expensive", Wing Commander Nurani said, "I have visited several countries, but never saw such priceless ornaments or expensive liquors ever in my life."

He said, "On Monday night we conducted a raid at Karnafuli Garden City to nab ramp model Jannatul Ferdous Nikita alias Eni, allegedly the mistress of Joinal and friend of Amin Huda, and recovered more Yaaba. Although, we could not arrest her, we found her father Abdul Noor. Following his statement, we conducted the raid at Joinal's residence in Dhanmondi where we found these materials."

Replying to a question, he, however, said that they had detained one of the friends of Nikita. But, Joinal and his accomplices had fled sensing the RAB drive, he said.

According to sources, Nikita and Joinal had been peddling Yaaba in cooperation with Amin Huda and his accomplices for a long time.

Sources said during the raid at Karnafuli Garden City at 10:00pm Monday, they detained Nikita's father who said that Nikita had been living at the residence of Joinal. Then the RAB members rushed to Joinal's residence at House-275 of Road-27 in Dhanmondi at about 12:30am.

After the RAB-3 started the raid, RAB additional director general Gulzaruddin Ahmed and intelligence unit chief Lt Col Asif Ansari along with other high officials from the RAB Headquarters went to the spot and stayed there until the end of the raid.

According to witnesses, RAB raided the three-storey building where Mahbubur Rahman alias Joinal and his elder brother Azizur Rahman Afzal, Chairman of Hotel Purbani International, had been living.

Sources said Joinal had an American wife. After the death of his wife, he had been living together with Nikita.

Azizur Rahman Afzal while talking to reporters said that he was not in good terms with his younger brother, Joinal, and had not been speaking to him for the last ten months or so as Joinal was involved in various unsocial activities.

Meanwhile, Mirpur police arrested an alleged phesidyl peddler and recovered at least 211 bottles of the contraband drug and about Tk 6 lakh from her possession.