Sylhet Bureau

Police have arrested UP Chairman Yunus Ali, a close aide of fugitive former MP Ranjit Chandra Sarkar, who is currently in London on Tuesday afternoon.

Tahirpur Police arrested him from the South Bardal Union Parishad area in Tahirpur, Sunamganj.

The arrestee Yunus is the son of the late Haji Abdur Rahman of Sadarkhola village in South Bardal Union of Tahirpur upazila and the current UP Chairman of the same union.

He resigned from a responsible post of Tahirpur Upazila Awami League in 2022 and contested as an independent candidate in the South Bardal Union Parishad elections of the upazila, where he won.

After winning the Union Parishad election during the Awami League government, Yunus Ali developed a personal closeness with then-party MP of Sunamganj-1 (Tahirpur, Jamalganj, Dharmapasha, Moddhanagar) Ranjit Chandra Sarkar, who is now a fugitive in London, due to living in Sylhet.

Ahead of the last national parliamentary election, Yunus Ali, an importer of coal and limestone, along with his family members, reportedly invested large sums of money to secure votes in favor of Ranjit Chandra Sarkar, the Awami League’s boat-symbol nominated candidate in Tahirpur upazila.

Thereafter, Yunus Ali became a close associate of ruling party MP Ranjit Chandra Sarkar under the then Awami League government.

On July 19, 2024, before the fall of the Awami League government amid a student-public uprising in July-August, a case was filed against 86 leaders and activists including former ministers, advisers, state ministers, and MPs for the attack and shooting on student protesters at Dargagate area of Sylhet city.

In that case, UP Chairman Yunus Ali was also named as an accused.

On August 26, 2024, the case was filed in the court of Sylhet Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate by Mahbub Hossain of Kazitula area in Sylhet metropolis.

In the case, 86 individuals were named and 400–500 unidentified persons were also made accused.

Other accused in the same case include former Law Minister Anisul Huq, former Adviser for Industry and Investment Salman F Rahman, and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Kamal.

The plaintiff Mahbub Hossain of Kazitula area in Sylhet metropolis alleged that former MP of Sunamganj-1 (Tahirpur–Jamalganj–Dharmapasha–Moddhanagar) and fugitive Ranjit Chandra Sarkar was involved in various illegal activities including smuggling and sand extraction from the Jadukata River. Chairman Yunus Ali, being under his influence, expanded his control in different areas including Sylhet, Sunamganj, and Tahirpur.

The plaintiff further claimed that Yunus Ali was directly involved in the attack and shooting on student-protesters on July 19, 2024, in the Dargagate area of Sylhet city.

On Tuesday evening, Anwara Khatun, mother of UP Chairman Yunus Ali and wife of the late Haji Abdur Rahman of Sadarkhola village in Tahirpur, said that her son has been falsely accused in a political case in Sylhet out of jealousy by local opposition groups. They also influenced Tahirpur police to arrest him from the South Bardal Union Parishad area on his way to his home in Sylhet.

On Tuesday evening, Sunamganj Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime and Ops) Zakir Hossain confirmed the arrest.