A controversial police raid on the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) headquarters in search of a listed criminal has culminated in the transfer of Khulshi Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC), Md Abdur Rahim, out of the port city altogether.
Following a directive issued by the Police Headquarters on 8 October, OC Abdur Rahim has been transferred to the Khulna Police Training Centre in the public interest. The order, signed by Additional Inspector General of Police (Administration) AKM Awlad Hossain, stipulated that the officer must accept his clearance by 10 October, failing which he would face immediate release from service on 11 October. Rahim secured his release from the Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) on Saturday, confirming that he would join his new posting within days.
The saga began late on Tuesday night when a police team led by Rahim surrounded and searched the Nagar Bhaban premises in the Matijharna area of the city. Officers had acted on intelligence suggesting that Wakil Hossain, alias Boga—a listed criminal and former joint convener of the Chattogram city unit of the Jatiyatabadi Swechhasebak Dal—was hiding inside the municipal building.
According to police records, Boga is a prominent suspect wanted in at least 17 criminal cases, with charges ranging from extortion, narcotics offences, and illegal land grabbing to assaults on police personnel and violations under the Explosives Act. He was officially expelled from the Swechhasebak Dal on 8 June following a public shootout over disputed state-owned land. Furthermore, law enforcement agencies identify Boga as a key ringleader behind local youth gangs, specifically the ‘Seven Star’ gang operating in the Khulshi area.
The raid on the City Corporation headquarters immediately sparked intense political backlash. Addressing a dengue awareness rally in the Eidgah area the following morning, newly installed CCC Mayor Dr Shahadat Hossain sharply criticised the officer’s actions and questioned his credentials.
“Officer-in-Charge Abdur Rahim served in the same capacity under the previous Awami League administration at Bakalia Police Station,” Mayor Shahadat stated, raising concerns over how the officer was appointed to lead Khulshi Police Station. The mayor further alleged that Rahim had refrained from arresting any Awami League or Jubo League figures during his tenure and defended Boga, describing him as a “July activist” who had endured political persecution and faced fabricated charges for over 17 years.
Hours after the mayor’s scathing public remarks, Rahim was abruptly removed from Khulshi Police Station and reassigned to the CMP’s City Special Branch (CTS) before the central police administration issued his final transfer to Khulna.
Tensions between the Khulshi police chief and Boga had been mounting for months. In August, after Rahim formally registered a case against Boga regarding the alleged abduction and assault of a lecturer from Pahartali College, Boga reportedly phoned the officer to issue explicit threats. When police attempted to arrest him on 4 September in the Wireless Colony area, Boga and his associates launched a violent attack on the police team, vandalising an operational vehicle and injuring seven officers, including Rahim.
In response to the incident, Boga’s father, Mohammad Javed, filed a counter-complaint in court on 13 September against OC Rahim, two Assistant Sub-Inspectors, and five others. The complaint alleged that officers had assaulted Boga and ransacked their residence during the September operation. The court accepted the application and instructed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to conduct a thorough inquiry.
The area remains under close security scrutiny following a series of recent violent turf wars linked to juvenile gang networks in Khulshi. On the night of 27 September, a teenager named Hridoy was fatally stabbed in the Taltala area of Wireless Colony. Police subsequent operations led to the arrest of eight teenagers associated with the ‘Seven Star’ gang, which police allege is operated by Boga and his associate Rakibul Islam, alias Picchi. Investigations revealed that the murder stemmed from an internal dispute between ‘Seven Star’ and a rival gang known as ‘Five Star’.
