Mohammedan Sporting Club members seek suspension of Lokman

A group of permanent members of the Mohammedan Sporting Club (MSC) on Saturday asked the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to suspend their Director in-charge Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan from BCB.

They raised the demand at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club in the afternoon. Former national footballer and vice-president of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Badal Roy placed the demand on behalf of MSC members.

"We're appealing to BCB President [Nazmul Hasan Papon] to remove his friend [Lokman] as director of BCB. We demand an immediate suspension of his directorship," Badal added.

MSC members also condemned Lokman's alleged ties to illegal casino business and sought an explanation about the club's expenditure from MSC President Obaidul Karim.

Lokman was arrested on Wednesday by the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) from his house in the city's Monipuri Para.

He reportedly admitted to earning Tk41 crore from the club's casino business and depositing the amount at two separate Australian Banks – Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ Bank.

BCB President Papon told the media on Friday that he was unaware of Lokman's ties to casino and love for alcohol.

Badal said they have information about who got money from the casino business. "We demand an immediate investigation into the casino issue and bringing the culprits to book," he said. "We want to revive the image of traditional Mohammedan club."

MSC's former additional secretary Mostaqur Rahman said they will demand permanently revoking Lokman's club membership in Mohammedan's next annual general meeting.

Sajed A Adel, Shafiqul Islam Manik, Imtiaz Sultan Zoni, Kaysar Hamid, Rumman Bin Wali Sabbir, Imtiaz Ahmed, Sayeed Hasan Kanon, Abdul Gaffar and Fazlur Rahman Babul were also present at the press conference.