Staff reporter
Online casino kingpin Salim Prodhan used to engage beautiful ladies from home and abroad along with fake money for his business. He was awarded many tenders through offering money and women to different government and private officials, press report said. The intelligence sources said that Salim has at least five wives. Among them, one is Russian, one American, one Japanese and two are Bangladeshis. His fifth wife is an Assistant Custom Commissioner who now works in Chattogram Custom House.
Besides, he used to bring foreign ladies to Bangladesh to run his casino business and use them in other immoral works. He also supplied women to different spa centres as per demand of the VIP clients. His foreign wives helped him in this regard. To extract more information from Selim Prodhan Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mainul Islam placed his two associates Akhtaruzzaman and Rokon on four-day remand.
RAB sources said Salim Prodhan is a close aid of Tarique Zia and his friend Giasuddin Al Mamun. He supplied women to the different parties of Tarique and Gias for getting extra privilege. Besides, he was the main women supplier to the different spa centres in the capital as per demand of the VIP persons. He has invested crores of money in different countries yet he has no income source except for spa centers.
He was also involved in cattle smuggling from India. The rise of Salim Prodhan was during the 1/11 government’s tenure. At that time, he created the first private printing press in Bangladesh with the permission of the government. His income-tax statement mentions that he had set up a printing press with money from Japan, according to sources. The recent drive against casinos reveals that Selim is the main driver of online casino.
He has been accused of extortion from cattle markets, illegal hotels and spas, and online casino business. He was caught at Shahjalal International airport while he was trying to flee to Thailand on Monday. Two cases under the Money Laundering Act and Narcotics Control Act were filed against Selim with Gulshan police station yesterday (Wednesday).
During preliminary interrogation, Salim admitted to his trip to Japan in 1988. He and his brother were engaged in a car business with a Japanese party. Later, he went to Thailand and did business in ship breaking. In the meantime, Selim was introduced to a North Korean named Doo, who advised him to open an online casino in Bangladesh.
They opened two gaming sites on P24 and T21 in 2018 and operated online casinos. They have a 50/50 partnership, the official said. Sarwar Bin Quasem, media director of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), said Selim had been sending money to London. The Casino-cyclone lashed the lives of many people but the ten top kingpins of Casino are still out of reach.
The law enforcing agencies could not nab the “Casino Mentor” and Juba League South President Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Shamrat and his associates though they earned crores of Taka running the casino business in the capital. The top ten untouched kingpins of casino have been conducting the business smoothly in the capital for long with the blessings of some unscrupulous members of the law enforcing agencies.
They went into hiding after the recent arrest of the expelled Juba League Organising Secretary Khaled Mahmud Bhuiyan, Contractors GK Shamim and Mohemmedan Club President Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan. Their mobile numbers are also out of reach. But the high ups of the law enforcing agencies said that they are under surveillance and will be arrested after getting green signal. The anti-Casino drives have been started from September 18 and 14 drives have already been conducted.
