At long last, top leader of the banned extremist group Gono Mukti Fouj Jahangir Kabir Lipton has been arrested in Kushtia. Acting on intelligence, a team from the Bangladesh Army launched an overnight raid at his ancestral home in Durbarachara village, under Kushtia Sadar upazila. The operation, which began late Thursday night, continued until 8:30 a.m. Friday and resulted in the arrest of Lipton along with three of his close associates.
During the raid, security forces uncovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition. The seized items included 6 foreign-made pistols, a shotgun, several magazines, rounds of ammunition, and a number of locally made sharp weapons.
Sources reveal that Lipton faces around 50 criminal cases involving murder, armed attacks, and extortion, with over a hundred additional allegations under investigation. He is on the police’s most-wanted list and is also named in a list of arms traffickers released by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
For nearly three decades, Lipton is believed to have orchestrated a wide range of criminal activities, operating both inside Bangladesh and from across the border in India.
A Long Trail of Crime Backed by Political Patronage
Over the years, many associates of Lipton’s —as well as senior and junior members of various extremist outfits—have been killed in encounters with law enforcement, by rival factions, or in internal feuds. Yet Lipton managed to remain untouched.
According to multiple sources, his survival and continued criminal operations were largely enabled by sustained political backing and the influence of close relatives within the administrative machinery.
Early Involvement in Crime
Lipton, labelled as one of Kushtia District Police’s most wanted and a notorious extremist leader, hails from Durbarachara village in Kushtia Sadar. His father is Azizur Rahman alias Mina. Raised in a Jamaat-BNP ideological household, Lipton joined Chhatra League politics in the 1990s after enrolling in college. However, after the Awami League came to power in 1996, he began drifting toward extremist groups and soon joined Gono Mukti Fouj. During this period, he also contested in the student union elections at Kushtia Government College.
Later, with a change in government, he renewed his ties with the BNP-Jamaat alliance. Under the protection of two top district BNP leaders and a then-member of parliament, he became heavily involved in tender manipulation and contract killings. Lipton himself carried out multiple assassinations and became known in the criminal underworld as a ruthless shooter.
During that time, several high-profile murders took place in Kushtia, including that of: Jamai Babu murder in a house in Kushtia’s Thana Para area, killing of Nurul Islam Dulal, General Secretary of the Kushtia Bus and Minibus Owners’ Association, murder of Munshi Rashidur Rahman, BNP leader and Chairman of Jagannathpur Union Parishad in Kushtia’s Kumrkha;I upazila.
According to police, Lipton was directly involved in these missions, which were led by two fugitive top extremists.
Eventually, Lipton formed his own armed group, and formal complaints against him were submitted to the Parliamentary Committee on the Ministry of Home Affairs.
When the Awami League returned to power in 2009, law enforcement ramped up operations against extremists, prompting Lipton to flee to India. From there, he continued to run his criminal network inside Bangladesh.
Using his financial power, Lipton reportedly managed to return to the country in 2013, and for more than a decade since, re-established control over his extremist network. Allegations also surfaced that he posed as an “informant” for law enforcement to shield his activities.
Lipton fled back to India at a later stage. Reports say that during his time there, he developed friendships with some Kushtia-based fugitives, while falling out with others.
According to a intelligence source, several top extremist leaders from Kushtia—like Anwar Hossain Anu, Azibur Member, and Obaidul Islam alias Lal—were killed in factional violence while hiding in India, and Lipton was suspected of being indirectly involved in those killings.
Despite these events, Lipton managed to remain under the radar. On 13 February 2015, a special team from Kolkata CID reportedly arrested him. Indian sources confirmed that Lipton had been running his criminal network in Bangladesh while staying in India for an extended period.
After being released from Indian custody, he returned to Bangladesh. He allegedly continued building his organisation while introducing himself as a law enforcement "source."
Witnesses claimed to have seen him openly mingling with law enforcement officers in the city. During this time, he reportedly developed strong ties with several ruling party leaders as well.
Since then, Lipton had been active in the area again, reportedly playing a key role in several violent incidents in 2023. Following these events, he established near-total dominance in the region.
After August 5, he aligned himself with one political faction and continued carrying out various activities on their behalf.
Kushtia remains under heightened vigilance following his arrest.
Aman/Kushtia