Ex-MoFA DG held near border in murder case
Sabbir Bin Shams, a former director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been arrested from a border area in Lalmonirhat in connection with a murder case filed over the deaths of six people in an arson attack.
Police detained Sabbir, 57, from Bonger Bazar in Dahagram-Angarpota under Patgram upazila on Saturday afternoon on charges of entering Bangladesh illegally from India.
During a search, police recovered seven passports, including two diplomatic passports, an international driving licence, a button phone and some Bangladeshi currency from his possession, police said.
Lalmonirhat Superintendent of Police Md Asaduzzaman confirmed the arrest, saying Sabbir was later handed over to Lalmonirhat Sadar police for further legal action.
According to local sources, Sabbir allegedly entered Bangladesh through the Dahagram border area using a river or remote route. His suspicious movement and conversation drew the attention of local residents, who informed Patgram police.
Police then conducted a drive in the area and detained him. After preliminary interrogation, he was sent to the district Detective Branch office for further questioning and legal proceedings, the SP said.
Lalmonirhat Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Saad Ahmed said Sabbir was shown arrested in a case filed over the deaths of six people in an arson attack during the 2024 mass uprising.
“On Saturday night, Sabbir Bin Shams was handed over to Sadar Police Station. He has been shown arrested as an accused identified during investigation in the case over six deaths by fire,” the OC said.
He was produced before a Lalmonirhat court on Sunday afternoon. Although a hearing was scheduled, it was not held, and the court sent him to jail, the OC added.
The case was filed with Lalmonirhat Sadar Police Station on May 27, 2025 over an attack, vandalism, looting and arson at the multi-storey residence of Sumon Khan, joint secretary of Lalmonirhat district Awami League, during the 2024 mass uprising. Six people died in the fire.
Sabbir, a member of Lalmonirhat town’s historic Boksi family, was considered an influential official during the previous Awami League government.
He resigned in August 2020 as executive director of the Centre for Research and Information, a research organisation linked to the Awami League.
In 2021, the then government appointed him as director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on a three-year contract.
He also served on contract as a minister at the Bangladesh High Commission in the United Kingdom. He resigned from the post in 2023 and returned to Dhaka.
Police said there are also specific cases against the former senior official filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Investigators believe he had been staying abroad for a long time to avoid legal complications and was attempting to return to Bangladesh by crossing the border illegally.
