The National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) has frozen all bank accounts of Faisal Karim Masud, alias Daud Khan, a suspect in the attempted assassination of Sharif Osman Hadi, spokesperson of Inqilab Moncho and a potential Dhaka-8 constituency candidate, along with his IT company, Apple Soft IT Limited.
A senior NBR official confirmed the matter on Sunday (14 December). Faisal Karim’s company is a registered member of BASIS.
Established in 2010, Apple Soft IT Limited specialises in web applications, mobile applications, and web development. In 2016, with support from the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and under the patronage of the government’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Masud’s another company, YCEU Technology Limited, developed a computer game titled Battle of ’71, focused on the Bangladesh Liberation War and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Faisal Karim was previously active in the politics of the now-banned student wing of the Awami League, Chhatra League. On 11 May 2019, he became a member of its central committee.
Osman Hadi was shot on Friday afternoon in the Box Culvert area of Old Paltan, Dhaka, the day after the election schedule was announced. The attackers fired at him from a motorcycle and fled the scene. Hadi is currently undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in the capital.
Recent photographs show Faisal Karim Masud with Osman Hadi at various locations, including the Inqilab Cultural Centre. The resemblance between Masud and one of the shooters in these images has made him a suspect in the attack.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant General (Retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Adviser to the Ministry of Home Affairs, announced a reward of Tk 5 million for information leading to the capture of the person who shot Osman Hadi.