Jamaat leader Akhtaruzzaman arrested over airport disorder

Jamaat-e-Islami leader and former lawmaker Major (retd) Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman Ranjan has been arrested over allegations of creating disorder at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, obstructing government duties, threatening a senior airport official and assaulting a security officer.

A team from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch arrested him at his residence in the Cantonment area on Friday evening, and DMP Additional Commissioner and DB chief Md Shafiqul Islam said he was subsequently handed over to the Airport Police Station after the initial legal formalities. The arrest followed a case lodged earlier that morning by Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh security officer Md Shahriar Alam Sajib, alleging obstruction of official duties in a sensitive key-point installation, the issuing of threats and the assault of a security official. The confrontation reportedly erupted on Thursday, after a Biman flight carrying 34 Jamaat members returning from Umrah landed in Dhaka from Medina, when delays in baggage collection and a shortage of trolleys triggered an altercation.

According to the case statement, Dhaka-5 lawmaker Mohammad Kamal Hossain summoned Executive Director Group Captain SM Ragib Samad to the scene to defuse the tension. Akhtaruzzaman allegedly verbally abused the official, confronted him aggressively, and threatened to assault him and remove him from the area. Moreover, the complaint alleges that members of his entourage were recording videos inside a restricted area, and that when Warrant Officer Mohammad Kamal Uddin objected, Akhtaruzzaman verbally abused and physically assaulted him. Furthermore, he is accused of behaving aggressively towards a Biman representative, while Zamzam water containers were allegedly thrown from a passenger's trolley onto the floor.

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Meanwhile, police are scrutinising CCTV footage and witness statements as part of the investigation, and the allegations remain unproven. Akhtaruzzaman was elected to parliament from Kishoreganj-2 in 1991 and 1996 on a BNP ticket. Nevertheless, he was expelled from the BNP on several occasions over alleged breaches of party discipline before joining Jamaat-e-Islami on December 13, 2025.