BSBRA election date announced: Bank defaulter Amjad threatens election board chairman!

Bangladesh Shipbreaking and Recyclers Association (BSBRA) election board’s appeal has ruled that he is a bank defaulter. Therefore, his candidacy in the BSBRA election was declared invalid. The court also ordered the election to be held. The election board chairman announced the election date as per the court order. Rising Steel Limited’s managing director and top debt defaulter Amjad Hossain Chowdhury was angry about this. It has been alleged that Amjad threatened to harass the chairman by filing a case. However, Amjad Hossain claims that he did not threaten anyone; he asked the chairman to be ready for a post-election case.
It is learned that the election board canceled Amjad’s nomination on April 30 due to the debt defaulter complaint. After that, when he appealed to the Election Appeal Board, the appeal was rejected at the hearing. The Election Management Board’s decision to cancel the nomination was communicated to the Appellate Division of the Election Commission through a written letter on May 10. The Appeal Board rejected Amjad’s appeal after the CIB report by Bangladesh Bank found him a loan defaulter.
Amjad Hossain filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the Election Commission’s order. In it, the court declared his candidacy valid and ordered him to participate in the election. The Election Commission appealed to the Appellate Division against that order. After the hearing on June 3, the Appellate Division stayed the order given by the High Court. At the same time, it ordered all election activities to be suspended until June 8 and set a hearing date for June 8 in the full bench. On that day, the court canceled his candidacy due to loan default and ruled in favor of the Election Commission, so Amjad lost his legitimacy. Last Monday, the court of the full bench of the Supreme Court, consisting of Chief Justice Zubair Rahman Chowdhury, Md. Ashfaqul Islam, Md. Rezaul Haque and Farah Mahbub, gave this order.
After the order, Election Board Chairman Aftab Uddin Chowdhury announced the election date on Wednesday. The election is scheduled to be held at the Radisson Blu in the city next Saturday. Immediately after the election date was announced, Amjad Hossain sent a WhatsApp message to the Election Management Board Chairman’s mobile. There, he said, “Assalamu Alaikum. Take more money from those who gave the election schedule as per their instructions. Because you will have to travel to court after the election; then they will not be by your side.”
Aftab Uddin Chowdhury did not agree to speak about Amjad Hossain’s threat. However, he confirmed the sending of the message on the mobile. He said that the election was supposed to be held on June 3; but it did not happen due to the case. On June 8, the Appellate Division ruled against Amjad Hossain as a defaulter and also gave instructions on organizing the election. In light of that verdict, we have started the voting process.
When asked about the threat, Amjad Hossain admitted to sending the message and said, “I did not threaten anyone.” The election is being organized while the legal process is ongoing; so I told the chairman to go to court. There is no threat here.
It is learned that the BSBRA election was supposed to be held on October 25 last year. 11 people submitted nomination papers against 11 posts in the election. Even then, due to Amjad Hossain’s unwanted interference, the election board resigned on September 15, citing the reason of not being able to ‘independently perform his duties’. As a result, no more elections were held.
On November 3, 2025, Amjad seized the post of president in violation of the organization’s articles of association. Amjad was removed on charges of anti-organization activities and the Ministry of Commerce appointed Bangladesh Shipping Corporation Secretary Abu Safayat Muhammad Shahe Dul Islam as the administrator on February 5. Taking charge, the administrator formed the Election Management Board and the Election Appeal Board on March 1 and announced the schedule on March 2.