A Bangladeshi-origin American citizen has been arrested in Dhaka on suspicion of acting as a foreign intelligence operative with the alleged intent of destabilising Bangladesh’s interim government.
Enayet Karim Chowdhury, 55, a dual national resident in the United States, was detained on Saturday, 13 September, after police observed him driving suspiciously in a black Toyota Prado SUV along Minto Road, where most government advisers reside.
He was stopped during a routine patrol, questioned, and subsequently taken into custody after failing to provide credible explanations for his movements.
Later that evening, Chowdhury was presented before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Dilruba Afroz Tithi. The court ordered him into seven days’ judicial remand at Dhaka Central Jail, pending a hearing scheduled for 15 September.
No formal charges have yet been filed under the Penal Code. However, he is being held under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which permits preventive detention where there are reasonable grounds to suspect activity endangering state security.
According to police, two iPhones were seized from Chowdhury. Forensic examination reportedly uncovered encrypted communications, location data linking him to high-profile political figures, and documents referencing covert meetings with senior officials, opposition leaders and business elites.
During interrogation, Chowdhury allegedly admitted that he had arrived in Dhaka on 6 September, flying from New York via Qatar Airways. He further claimed to be working under contract for a foreign intelligence service, though refused to disclose which agency.
He is said to have been tasked with gathering intelligence on the interim government’s stability, internal divisions and civil–military relations, highlighting what he described as a perceived “distance” between the administration and the armed forces. He also confessed to holding secret meetings with “key decision-makers” across party lines, former bureaucrats and leading industrialists.
Chowdhury went on to predict that the Supreme Court would reinstate the caretaker government system on 21 October following a pending legal challenge — a claim without any legal basis. Most alarmingly, he asserted that the United States would determine the composition of the next government, including its leadership, once the caretaker system was restored with military backing.
“He said America is ‘disappointed’ with the current leadership,” the investigators, told reporters.
“He described himself not as a tourist or businessman but as an operative engaged in shaping regime change.”
Ramna Division Deputy Police Commissioner Masud Alam confirmed the arrest and emphasised its gravity.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) submitted to the court, Chowdhury stands accused of: “Conspiring to undermine public order, compromise national sovereignty, and overthrow the legitimate interim government of Bangladesh by acting as an agent of a foreign power.”