Police detained four people during a raid at a textile factory owned by a former member of parliament and Awami League leader in Chattogram city last evening (2 June) following allegations of supplying fabric to produce uniforms for the banned armed group Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF).
The operation took place at Well Fabrics Limited, located in the Kalurghat BSCIC industrial area under Chandgaon Police Station, police said.
The factory is owned by Well Group, a business conglomerate tied to Md Abdus Salam, who was elected as an independent candidate from Chattogram-8 (Boalkhali-Chandgaon) constituency in the 7 January 2024 election.
Salam, a former chairman of the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) and current finance secretary of the city unit of Awami League, has reportedly been in hiding since the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August 2024.
Confirming the matter, Chandgaon Police Station Officer-in-Charge Atiq Ahmed told The Business Standard (TBS), “This operation is linked to an ongoing investigation under a case filed with the Bayezid Police Station regarding the production of KNF uniforms.”
“Four individuals have been detained from the factory for questioning and have been transferred to Bayezid Police Station,” the OC said.
According to police, they acted on specific intelligence that fabrics used to make KNF uniforms were supplied from this factory.
Earlier on 18 May, police seized 20,300 KNF uniforms from Ringvo Apparels, a garment factory in the Noyarhat area under Bayezid Bostami Police Station.
Police arrested three individuals- Shahedul Islam (the factory owner), Golam Azam, and Niaz Haider- in connection with the matter.
Azam and Haider had brought in the uniform order on behalf of a person named Monghlasin Marma (alias Mong) under a contract worth Tk2 crore. The delivery of the uniforms was scheduled for May, police said.
Sub-Inspector Iqbal Hossain of the Detective Branch filed a case in this regard, alleging that the KNF- a proscribed armed separatist group operating in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Rangamati, Khagrachhari, and Bandarban)- was involved in extortion, kidnapping, and acts of terrorism aimed at disrupting national unity, sovereignty, and public safety.
The case also claimed that the accused, through criminal conspiracy, were attempting to damage state property, spread fear, and disrupt normal state functions by financing terrorist activities.
Following the initial seizure, police recovered an additional 11,785 KNF uniforms from a warehouse in Noyarhat on 26 May, and nearly 15,000 more from another garment factory under Pahartali Police Station on 28 May.
The owner of that factory, Motiur Rahman, was arrested and placed on a five-day remand on Sunday (1 June).
