Did the police arrive at Fu Wang too late?
Police did not find any gambling equipment during the raid
Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Monday raided the Fu Wang Club at Tejgaon-Gulshan link road in capital, but did not find any evidence of illegal gambling.
Police raided the club, which has been closed for three days, on information that illegal gambling was taking place there.
However, they did not find any gambling equipment during the around two and half-hour drive that started at 4pm.
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But the home ministry in 2017 provided a list of clubs, including Fu Wang Club, to the police to stop gambling operations and other illegal activities.
Many other previous reports also mentioned illegal activities, including gambling, taking place in the club.
Kazi Shamim Billah, the club's general manager, claimed that it was closed for "renovation", but The Business Standard found no such signs.
Just after the raid started, Anisur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Tejgaon division police, told The Business Standard, "We are raiding the club on information that gambling has been taking place there for over a few months."
After the drive, police returned empty-handed as they did not find any sign of illegal gambling activities.
The club workers, initially, did not want to disclose to journalists that the club was closed, but they divulged the matter later.
When asked about illegal activities in the club, General Manager Shamim said that during his three years in the club, no gambling or any other illegal activities ever took place.
"We just have a license to run a bar and have arrangements for playing pool."
After the drive, Dhaka Metropolitan Police's (DMP's) Executive Magistrate Abdullah Al Mamun, who led the drive with Tejgaon Industrial Police, told journalists, "We did not find any illegal gambling equipment or signs of illegal activities here. But we are seizing the documents of imported liquor to verify whether they pay their import duties properly.
"If we find any discrepancy in the liquor list, necessary steps will be taken."
Assistant Commissioner Farhad Salman Hasan and Additional Deputy Commissioner Hafiz Al Mahmud of Tejgaon Industrial Zone said that they never heard about gambling or illegal activities in the club.
According to intelligence sources, Jubo League's Dhaka South President Ismail Chowdhury Samrat had been operating a casino and facilitating other gambling activities in that club for a long time.
On June 8, 2017, home ministry's Public Security Division directed police to take legal action against eight clubs, including Fu Wang, in a letter.
Meanwhile, Detective Branch of DMP on Monday raided two more bars, Piyashi and Golden Dragon bar, at Moghbazar and Banglamotor area, as part of a countrywide drive against illegal casinos and gambling.
The Department of Narcotics Control also raided a bar, Chalet Bar and Restaurant, at Banglamotor later that night.
