Casino kingpin Samrat stages showdown days after walking out of jail
Expelled Jubo League leader Ismail Hossain Chowdhury alias Samrat staged a show-down Friday while appearing in public for the first time in three days after being released on bail.
At noon (26 August), he went to Dhanmondi Road No. 32 with thousands of Jubo League leaders and workers to pay respect to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In front of his car was a fleet of motorcycles alongside pickup vans carrying his supporters.
Despite being a holiday, there was a traffic jam in Dhanmondi's Russell Square and surrounding roads for about three hours for the showdown.
Although Samrat was expelled from the Jubo League, his showdown today was attended by leaders of various levels of the Dhaka Metropolitan South and North Committees of the Jubo League.
On 6 October 2019, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested Samrat from Cumilla for his ties to an illegal gambling racket.
RAB conducted a raid on Samrat's office in Kakrail's Bhuiyan Trade Centre and recovered a foreign pistol, yaba tablets, bottles of foreign liquor, and two kangaroo hides.
A mobile court handed Samrat a six-month prison sentence for possession of the kangaroo skins under the Wild Animal Protection Act.
He was sent to Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.
Later, two more cases were filed against him with Ramna Police Station, under the Narcotics Control Act and Arms Act.
He was released on 22 August after securing bail in all four cases.