The influential presidium member of Awami League (AL) and mayor of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) AHM Khairuzzaman Liton and his daughter Anika Fariha Zaman are on the board of directors of at least three companies. 

They operate from the same address— the seventh floor of Ataturk Tower on 22, Kamal Ataturk Avenue in Banani, the elite area of Dhaka.

The Atatruk Tower office displays no signboards of these companies. However, entering the office, it was confirmed that four shipping companies are operating from here. These are Seabond Shipping Limited, Sultanganj Port plc, Indo Bangla Lines plc and Padma Distripark plc. Seabond Shipping Limited and Indobangla Lines Plc. All these companies also used the same address as their office on their websites.

Two people in that office said that this office is actually controlled by Mohammad Alamgir Akhtar Sardar, an Indian citizen. He introduces himself as Dr. M. A. A. Sardar. However, despite talking about shipping business, no sign of such business was noticed in that office.

According to the information obtained from the office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, this Alamgir Akhtar Sardar is the representative of Pelagine Lines Limited in the list of shareholders of Seabond Shipping Limited, which is again in the list of board of directors of Liton and his daughter’s companies in various format. The address of Mr. Sardar used there is 10/1, Tenth Floor, City Heart, 67, Nayapalton, Dhaka.

An official of that office said that Alamgir Akhtar Sardar has been living with his wife in a rented house in Dhaka's Banani for almost two years. He said that Mr. Sardar's wife is a Pakistani citizen. The official confirmed that Alamgir Sardar himself does not have any work permit. 

Mr. Sardar was called by The Mirror Asia on the provided number and asked how he is working in this country without a work permit. He first claimed over the phone that he had all the necessary documents. When The Mirror Asia asked to see them, he said that business management does not require a work permit. Because the business entity he has become a partner in, is approved by the Bangladesh government.

Who is this Alamgir Sardar?

According to the Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs (IMCA), Alamgir Akhtar Sardar is a resident of Bashirhat area of North Chabbish Pargana of West Bengal. His company Director Identification Number (DIN) is 02466109 as the database of IMCA. In 2009, he established a shipping company called Fairland at 47 Park Street, Kolkata along with Ali Askar Quraishi and Anwar Ali Mollah. In 2010, he was removed by other directors due to his questionable activities.

According to an investigation by The Mirror Asia, between 2010 to 2016, Alamgir Akhtar Sardar was involved in shipping business in Nepal, Pakistan and Dubai. Along with Zafar Habib, a Pakistani national residing in Dubai, and his brother Imran Habib, they attempted to establish an offshore company in UK. Mr. Sardar opened a shipping company with the same name in Kolkata in 2017 after the company named Afro Asia Lines Limited went to strike off status in 2016 by the Company house of UK. From then till 2021 he established 9 shipping companies in India under different names. Among them, he managed River Edge Shipping Private Limited in India and Zafar Habib runs the same company in Dubai and Pakistan.

The Mirror Asia tracked down two former close associates of Alamgir Sardar in Nepal and Kolkata, India. After a long conversation with them, it came out that Mr. Sardar has been working in Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML) under the guise of shipping business for a long time. Therefore, he established numerous shipping companies under multiple names at different locations, through which TBML was done through under or over invoicing.

When Alamgir Sardar founded River Edge Shipping Pvt Ltd in 2018, his partner was Devi Prakash Bhattachan, chairman of Prabhu Group of Nepal and the country's politician. In 2021, Mr. Bhattachan stepped down as director of River Edge. Prabhu Money Transfer Limited owned by this Prabhu Group is active in various countries of the world including Nepal, India and Bangladesh. The group established Prabhu Bank in Nepal. Recently the Monetary Regulatory Authority of Nepal penalised the bank for not complying with the provisions of the Money Laundering Act. Besides, Prabhu Bank has been given a watch with negative impression rating in 2023 and 2024.

How Sardar became associated with Liton family

Alamgir Akhtar Sardar was first involved with Lt. General (Retd.) Abul Hossain, former Director General (DG) of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and his close friends. In 2018, Abul Hossain was removed from the post of BGB DG before the end of his term due to alleged corruption. At that time, there were serious allegations of irregularities in the construction of BGB Market and allotment of shops against him.

Multiple sources have confirmed The Mirror Asia that Abul Hussain allegedly developed ties with an organised smuggling ring in India during his tenure as DG of BGB. Mr. Sardar was in close contact with several people in that circle. In continuation of that relationship, Alamgir Akhtar Sardar joined with Abul Hossain to build a shipping company in the same manner in Bangladesh.

Alamgir Sardar and Abul Hossain proposed to Awami League leader AHM Khairuzzaman Liton to build a private port before the publication of the official gazette of setting up a port in Sultanganj by opening the waterway from Rajshahi in Bangladesh to Maya in India. With that proposal, they started opening shipping companies one after another under different names. At the same time, Liton family's old business partner Amana Group and Shamsuzzaman Awal were involved in this process. In addition to the process of launching these shipping companies, Amana Group opened several companies in Britain, which is completely mysterious.

The Mirror Asia spoke to a businessman who has been advocating for the reopening of the Rajshahi-Maya waterway. The businessman from Chapainawabganj said on condition of anonymity that Khairuzzaman Liton offered to start a port company with him at the first stage. But later in this process Indian citizen Alamgir Akhtar Sardar and former BGB DG Abul Hossain infiltrated. Later they themselves started opening shipping companies one by one.

The businessman said, "The way they opened shipping companies, it is clear that their purpose is not only to establish a port or to do shipping business." When asked what other purpose they could have, he said, "I think it is very big." 

“They have fishy purpose. Because in this way there will never be business in this small, just-started port. Their aim is to do some other business behind the port. But if you talk about these things, you cannot survive with your life”, explains the businessman hopelessly. 

When asked about the matter, Abul Hossain claimed over the phone that they are doing business according to the rules. He said, "I don't understand why you (journalists) are suddenly following us." When attention was drawn to his association with Alamgir Sardar and Mayor Liton and the opening of mysterious companies abroad, he hung up the phone. After several attempts to contact him, he did not pick up.

The Mirror Asia attempted to contact Khairuzzaman Liton several times over the last two days, but he did not pick up his phone.