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Shady Arms Sale

Musician held in Mymensingh

The flute player sold guns to criminals from his authorised arms shop, say police

Mohammad Jamil Khan
A revered flute player, Ustad AKM Sahabuddin Khan earned the title before his name as he teaches music at different institutions. He is also well-regarded as a gentle and distinguished personality in his home town Mymensingh.
So many were left stunned when police arrested him from his AB Guha Road residence yesterday morning on the charge of
selling arms to criminals.
Sahabuddin, who also owns the Khan Arms Store in his area, sold legally imported guns to criminals, claimed officials of DMP's Counter Terrorism andTransnational Crimeunit.
An authorised arms dealer has to check the validity of the buyer's licence. After handover of the firearm, the buyer will register the weapon at the arms section of the deputy commissioner's office. The seller is supposed to keep a photocopy of the buyer's licence and verify its authenticity with the DC office. There are instances when Sahabuddin didn't follow due process, according to CTTC officials.
"We have arrested Sahabuddin on the charge of selling arms to Jahidul Alam Kadir, a physician from whose house the CTTC unit recovered 15 firearms and 1,622 bullets on Thursday,” Mahmudul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Model Police Station ofMymensingh, told The Daily Star yesterday.
In primary interrogation, Sahabuddin confessed that he knew Jahidul as he visited the arms shop sometimes, said the OC.
Sahabuddin has been shown arrested in a case filed with the police station regarding the arms recovery from Jahidul's house in Mymensingh. "We will be able to say more clearly about him [Sahabuddin) after further interrogation."
Locals know Sahabuddin, aged about 60, as a music teacher of Mymensingh Shilpakala Academy. He also teaches music at a cultural group of Bangladesh Agricultural University and institutes like Nazrul Sena and Alokmoy Naha Sangeet Bidyayatan.
A member of the district chapter of renowned cultural organisation Udichi, he regularly plays classical flute at different cultural programmes in the district.
However, Jahangir Alam, additional deputy commissioner of CTTC unit's special action group, termed him a white collar criminal. Sahabuddin's name surfaced during interrogation of doctor Jahidul and Jahidul's wife Masuma Akther, he said.
“We also got some more names and information from the couple, and we are now analysing it to take action against those who are absconding."
The CTTC unit arrested Jahidul with two pistols and eight bullets in the capital's Jatrabari on May 15. And his wife was picked up from Gabtoli with one pistol and four bullets on June 3. Interrogating the duo, they recovered the firearms and bullets early Thursday.
The couple is now on a three-day remand, which ends today.
CTTC Inspector Mejbah Uddin told this newspaper that most of the arms recovered from Jahidul's house were
supplied by Sahabuddin.
Other officials said they have come to know that the musician used to collect guns from different authorised dealers and sometimes from underworld criminals.
“We have got names of some three more legal arms dealers who sell legally imported arms to criminals, and we are now conducting drives to catch them red-handed," said a high official of CTTC unit, requesting anonymity.
Sahabuddin's wife Shah Dilruba and son Tazuddin Khan told this newspaper that they don't know details about the arrest. They will inquire about it tomorrow, they said.
Arju Parvez, cultural officer of Mymensingh Shilpakala Academy, said he knows Sahabuddin very well as a flute player. He heard that the musician has a legal arms shop but doesn't know anything about it.
AKM Khalequzzaman, former president of Mymensingh Udichi, said they invite Sahabuddin to play flute whenever they organise a cultural programme It is really hard to believe that he is involved in such crime he said.
"Anything can happen but first we definitely have to know more about the case," he added.
According to sources, there are 69 authorised arms dealers across the country.
Earlier on April 16, the CTTC unit arrested Jakir Hossein alias Bachchu, 45, and Safiullah Sikder Babu, 34, for selling legal arms to criminals from the capital's Kamalapur.
Of the arrestees, Bachchu was working as a manager at authorised arms store Samsul Islam Arms. A case was filed with Kotwali Police Station regarding the incident.
On March 29, a CTTC team arrested four people, including an authorised arms dealer from Rangpur Anwar Hossain Babu, for selling legal arms to criminals. Babu is the owner of Sarker Arms Company in the district.
In 2012, the Detective Branch arrested BM Sahabuddin alias Khokon and Sayed Asadul Abbas with illegal arms. Sahabuddin is a legal arms dealer in Khulna and owner of Sahabuddin & Sons while Abbas is the owner of Sayed & Sons in Dhaka.
| Our Mymensingh Correspondent contributed to this report]