Aziz Mohammad Bhai (born 1962) is a Bangladeshi industrialist and a former film producer.[1][2][3] He is currently the chairman of Olympic Industries Limited.[1]
Aziz Mohammad Bhai | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1962 (age 61–62) |
| Nationality | Bangladeshi |
| Occupation | Industrialist |
| Spouses | Naureen |
| Children | Asar |
| Parents |
|
In May 2024, Bhai was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1998 murder case of the actor Sohel Chowdhury.[4]
Background
editAziz Mohammad Bhai was born in Armanitola, Dhaka in 1962 to Mohammad Bhai (d. 2018) and Khadiza Mohammad Bhai.[5] The family had migrated from Gujarat to East Pakistan during the Partition of India in 1947.[5] Mohammad established the first steel mill in the region in 1959.[6] He established a battery business Bengal Carbide Limited (later renamed to Olympic Industries Limited) in 1979 and appointed his brother, Mubarak Ali (d. 2023), as the managing director.[7] In 1996, the company started the business of making biscuits.[7] Aziz had a brother, Raja Mohammad Bhai.[7]
Business
editAziz became one of the richest industrialists in Bangladesh owning eleven industries.[5] He is also a life member of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce.[1] After his father's death in 2018, he became the chairman of Olympic Industries Limited.[1] He is also the chairman of Ambee Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Ambee Films.[6] Ambee Films produced several major films.[6]
Charges and allegations
editBhai was first arrested during the tenure of president Hussain Muhammad Ershad and was released after Prince Karim Aga Khan, the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailism, came to Bangladesh.[6]
In 1996, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission filed a case against Bhai and the Olympic Industries Limited for extracting money from the stock market fraudulently.[5] A Dhaka tribunal issued an arrest warrant against him in the case in August 2018.[5]
Actor Sohel Chowdhury was killed on 18 December 1998 in front of Trumps Club, a club owned by Bhai.[8] On 30 July 199, the Detective Branch of police pressed charges against Bhai along with the club's co-owners Ashish Ray Chowdhury (also Bottle Chowdhury) and Afaqul Islam (also Bunty Islam), and suspects Sanjidul Hasan Emon and Harun Ur Rashid (also Leather Liton) and four others.[8] According to the charge sheet, Sohel Chowdhury had a brawl with Bhai about the mosque management committee trying to shut down the club on 24 July 1998, around 5 months before the killing.[8] The High Court stayed the proceedings of the trial from 2003 until February 2022.[8] Ashish was arrested on 5 April 2022.[9] On 9 May 2024, the High Court sentenced life imprisonment to Bhai, Afakul Islam (also Bunty Islam) and Adnan Siddiqui.[4] Ashish Ray Choudhury, Tariq Sayeed Mamun, Faruque Abbasi, Sanzidul Hasan Emon, Selim Khan and Harun Ur Rashid were acquitted.[4]
In 2007, Rapid Action Battalion seized 130,000 yaba pills with the raw materials to make yaba, from a house in Gulshan. Bhai's nephew Aminul Huda was arrested and Bhai was probed in this case.[6]
In October 2019, the Department of Narcotics Control seized liquor bottles and poker table with chips in an anti-narcotics operation at the rooftop casino and bar at the house of Bhai.[10][11] Bhai's nephew Ahad was the owner of the bar.[12] The house was empty during the raid.[5]
Personal life
editBhai is married to Naureen Aziz Mohammad Bhai.[6] She has been running the family businesses in Bangladesh which includes the ones in pharmaceuticals, the iron and steel sector, and consumer goods.[6] She is the director of Ambee Pharmaceuticals, Bengal Steel Works Ltd, Ambee Ltd, AKES B, and The Morning Sun.[6] She owns Progoti Printing and Packaging.[6]
The couple has three sons and two daughters.[6] One son, Asar Aziz M Bhai, took a board position in Olympic Industries Limited in June 2023. Ahad Mohammad Bhai, a son of Aziz's brother Raja Mohammad Bhai, also got appointed as a shareholder director.[7] Aziz's cousin, Munir Ali (Mubarak Ali's son, and Aziz's sister's son, Samad Miraly, are also involved running the business.[7]
As of 2022, Chowdhury has been living in Thailand.[13] He has resorts in Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Singapore.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Board of Directors". Olympic Industries Ltd. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "At long last, Aziz Mohammad Bhai". Daily Sun. 2019-10-28. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "Aziz Mohammad Bhai: A man of many faces". Dhaka Tribune. 2019-10-27. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ a b c "Sohel Chowdhury murder: 3 get life term, 6 acquitted". The Daily Star. 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ a b c d e f g "They bet in dollars in Aziz Mohammad Bhai's rooftop casino". The Business Standard. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Aziz Mohammad Bhai: A man of many faces". Dhaka Tribune. 2019-10-27. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ a b c d e "Aziz Mohammad Bhai's second generation enters Olympic board". The Business Standard. 2023-06-27. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ a b c d "Why was Sohel Chowdhury murdered?". 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "Actor Sohel Chowdhury murder: Fugitive Ashish Roy Chowdhury arrested". The Daily Star. 2022-04-05. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ আজিজ মোহাম্মদ ভাইয়ের বাসায় অভিযান, মাদক উদ্ধার. Dhaka Tribune (in Bengali). 2019-10-27. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "Mini bar, casino found at Aziz Mohammad Bhai's house". The Daily Star. 2019-10-27. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "Anti-narcotics team raids Aziz Mohammad Bhai's Gulshan home". bdnews24.com. 2019-10-27. Archived from the original on 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "Ashish, accomplices murdered actor Sohel Chowdhury to teach him a lesson, says RAB". bdnews24.com. 2022-04-06. Archived from the original on 2022-04-08. Retrieved 2024-05-10.