2 Pirzadas Face Tk 2 Crore Fraud Allegations in Chandpur
Photo: Agamir Somoy
Two pirzadas (sons of a pir) of the historic Sadra Darbar Sharif face allegations of embezzling and defrauding around Tk 2 crore in Hajiganj, Chandpur.
Hajiganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Abdul Jabbar confirmed the matter. The accused have been identified as Pirzada Hammad Chowdhury and Baki Billah Mishkat Chowdhury.
Following the incident, Maulana Md Golam Maola, the head of an Umrah group and a victim of the fraud, has filed a cheque dishonour case.
It is alleged that the accused collected money from many individuals through an unregistered institution named “SB Overseas’ and have since severed all communication.
According to the case documents, Golam became acquainted with Hammad and Mishkat. Having previously sent Umrah pilgrims to Saudi Arabia through various agencies, he placed his trust in them and began financial transactions for sending pilgrims from January 2025.
Golam said that he paid a total of Tk 95.80 lakh for 65 Umrah pilgrims through cash and banking channels. He alleged that a portion of the money was deposited into Hammad’s bank account, while the remainder was handed over in cash to his father, Muhammad Zakaria Chowdhury.
He added that although Hammad and Mishkat took money from him between 14 January 2025 and April 2026, they failed to send the pilgrims at the scheduled time. Becoming suspicious, he investigated and discovered that the SB Overseas holds no valid registration.
Golam stated that after failing to send the passengers, the accused provided me with fake visas and flight tickets. They later issued two cheques from Islami Bank for Tk 20 lakh and Tk 25 lakh, promising to refund the money.
However, both cheques were dishonoured as there were insufficient funds in the account. In connection with this, he filed two separate cases against Hammad under the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act at the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.
He alleged that Hammad did not appear for the court hearing. Hammad is in hiding in Dhaka, while Mishkat is residing abroad. He has informed the Deputy Commissioner and provided a written complaint to the Superintendent of Police.
Regarding the allegations, Zakaria said that his sons manage their own businesses. He did not understand why he is being implicated in these matters. The allegation of receiving cash is completely false and no financial transactions were made with me. He has no contact with his sons due to these incidents.
OC Abdul Jabbar told Agamir Somoy that two cases have been filed at the station and the investigation is ongoing.
