WHAT IS BEING DONE TO LIEUTENANT GENERAL MASUD UDDIN CHOWDHURY (RETD.)
A 72-Year-Old Three-Star General. A Lifetime of Service. And This Is How He Is Being Treated.
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WHO HE IS
Lieutenant General Masud Uddin Chowdhury (Retd.) served Bangladesh for decades. He rose to the highest ranks of the Bangladesh Army — a three-star general. He served as High Commissioner to Australia from 2008 to 2014, representing Bangladesh on the world stage. He was a Member of Parliament. He has lived in Baridhara DOHS, Dhaka — the same home, the same community — for years. He is 72 years old. He is a critical care patient.
On March 23, 2026, he was arrested from that home. What has happened since then is not justice. It is something else entirely.
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WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE ARREST
His family was present when he was arrested. His wife went with him to the DB office. And then — silence.
From that moment, his family has been kept in the dark about everything. Every transfer — DB remand to medical to DB office to CMM court to jail to ICT and back to remand — happened without the family being told. No phone calls. No meetings. His wife waited outside the DB office every single day for weeks. She was never allowed in. She was never given an update.
He fell so severely ill he was hospitalized for two weeks. Nobody told his family.
Around April 13-14, 2026, he was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). He remained there for approximately two weeks. His family was not informed — not by police, not by jail authorities, not by the court, not by the hospital. They found out through back channels, as they find out everything.
He has been on remand after remand after remand.
A 1-day remand serves no investigative purpose. It exists only to extend custody. Remand after remand in different cases — when one ends, the next one begins. This is not investigation. This is indefinite detention by rotation.
He was handcuffed in court. He is transported in non-AC metal vans in Dhaka’s 35°C+ heat.
He is 72 years old. He is already in state custody, surrounded by police at all times. He is a political prisoner with no possibility of flight. Handcuffing him in court is humiliation, not security. Putting him in a metal van without air conditioning in May heat — for a man who has already been hospitalized — is physical punishment, not procedure.
He is being shuffled between custody locations instead of being taken where he needs to go.
Even when being taken to jail, he is not taken directly. He is moved from place to place — DB to medical, medical back to DB, DB to court, court to jail, jail to ICT, ICT back to remand. Each transfer means a new holding cell, new interrogators, new uncertainty. For a 72-year-old man with health conditions, this is not due process. This is psychological torment disguised as procedure.
In court, a mob of lawyers blocked his legal team from submitting his medical documents.
On March 24, 2026, during the CMM court hearing, a mob of lawyers physically prevented his lawyers from even submitting his medical documents. He is 72 and a critical care patient. His own legal team could not present basic medical evidence to the court. Instead of arguing the actual cases — money laundering and July Uprising murder allegations — opposing lawyers shouted about “1/11,” completely irrelevant to the charges before the court.
Remand reports were not shared with his defense.
None of the remand reports were provided to his legal team until much later. The court continued granting remand after remand without requiring or reviewing what was obtained from previous remands. This is not judicial oversight. This is a rubber stamp.
He was recorded as পলাতক (absconding) in a chargesheet — while sitting in a police cell.
In Feni Case 361, the charge framing filed on May 5, 2026 records him as পলাতক (absconding). He was not originally named in the FIR — he was added by police during investigation. He had been arrested on March 23, 2026. He had been placed on fresh remand on May 4 — one day before the chargesheet was filed. He had been in continuous custody for 43 days. Recording a man as “absconding” when you are holding him in your own custody is not a clerical error. It is document fraud submitted to a court of law.
Bail has been denied on grounds he is a “flight risk” — a man who was living in his own home the entire time.
He was not running. He was not hiding. He was in his own house in Baridhara DOHS. A 72-year-old man with health conditions. And yet bail is denied every single time.
11+ cases filed against him — after the arrest.
He was arrested first. The cases came after. Human trafficking. Murder. Genocide. 1/11. Each case triggers a fresh remand. When one remand ends, another case is ready. This is not prosecution. This is a system designed to ensure he never gets out.
The ICT was used to extend his custody.
After the murder case remands, the prosecution petitioned International Crimes Tribunal-2 to show him as “arrested” for genocide — while he was already in custody on other charges. He was transferred from jail to ICT, then back to a 1-day remand. This circular transfer serves no investigative purpose. It is a mechanism to keep him detained through jurisdiction after jurisdiction.
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WHAT IS BEING DONE TO HIS FAMILY
All bank accounts — his, his wife’s, his daughter’s — have been frozen since August 2024.
Seven months before his arrest in March 2026. No conviction. No finding of wrongdoing. His wife and daughter cannot access their own money. For over 9 months. How does a family mount a legal defense? How do they pay for medical care? How do they live?
Now the rent from the family home is being seized too.
On May 19, 2026, the ACC issued a notice to the tenants of the Baridhara DOHS residence, instructing them to redirect rent payments. The family received no prior notice from the High Court. First the bank accounts. Now the rent. The family is being financially strangled.
His wife and daughter were questioned about an army-allocated plot — a standard military service benefit.
After the investigation into his wealth statement found nothing, officers turned to his wife and daughter. They were asked about a plot of land allocated to him as part of his military service benefits — a standard allocation given to army officers. His wife and daughter already have cases filed against them. This is not investigation. This is pressure through the family.
His weekly phone call quota was used by someone else — and the family was told it was already used up.
We are supposed to receive one phone call per week from Abb. When we asked why we hadn’t heard from him, the jailer told us that someone else had used up his weekly quota of calls. His own allotted phone calls — taken by someone else. His family was not able to speak to him. This is either gross negligence in call management, or it is deliberate interference with his right to communicate with his family.
His tax file was presented to him while he was hospitalized. He has no tax case.
Our ancestral home was burned down — not during the uprising, but after BNP gained ground.
During the July Uprising, many powerful people’s houses were burned down across Bangladesh. Our house was not touched. Our own community did not turn against us. But once BNP started gaining political ground, people from outside our area were hired to burn down our ancestral home in Feni. This was not spontaneous public anger. This was an organized, political attack — targeted reprisal disguised as popular unrest.
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THE PATTERN
Arrest first. Build cases after. When investigations find nothing, go after the family. Freeze their accounts. Seize their rent. Question them about lawful property. When one remand ends, another case produces the next one. When those run out, use the ICT. When all else fails, record him as “absconding” in a chargesheet while he sits in a police cell.
Handcuff a 72-year-old man in court. Put him in a metal van without AC in Dhaka heat. Shuffle him between custody locations instead of taking him where he needs to go. Deny bail. Deny contact. Don’t tell the family when he’s hospitalized.
This is not justice. This is not due process. This is a coordinated campaign against a man and his family — every single action designed to punish, humiliate, and break them before any court has found him guilty of anything.
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WHAT THE LAW SAYS
Every action documented above violates Bangladesh’s own laws:
The law is clear. The government has simply refused to follow it.
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Tashnuva Masud
Daughter of Lt. Gen. Masud Uddin Chowdhury (Retd.)
May 19, 2026
Arlington, Texas, USA