Dhaka: Koushik Hossain Taposh was a tabla player of a private television in the capital's Karwan Bazar. From an employee of a private television, he became the chairman of a private channel 'Gaan Bangla' in a few years. But the fact that his fingers suddenly became a banana tree escaped everyone's attention.
He remained out of reach due to his good relations with ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and regular meetings with ministers. After the fall of the former Prime Minister in the mass uprising, information about the misdeeds of the private channel Gaan Bangla chairman Kaushik Hossain Taposh started coming out.
Koushik Hossain Taposh was arrested on November 4 from the capital's Uttara area on specific charges.
According to the case source, on July 18, Ishtiaq Mahmud and others gathered with the students to participate in the pre-announced program of the student movement against discrimination and as soon as they reached the empty road in front of Azampur Nawab Habibullah High School in Sector No. 4 under Uttara Purba Police Station, various terrorist cadres including Awami League, Jubo League, Chhatra League, armed with domestic and foreign weapons, started ambushing, beating and shooting at Ishtiaq with the intention of killing him. He, along with the students' guardians and students, started running here and there to escape the bullets fired by the accused. Later, when the bullets fired by the accused hit his stomach, back, hand and head, he was seriously injured. Later, he received treatment at Evercare Hospital.
On October 29, businessman Ishtiaq Mahmud filed a case in this incident, naming 126 people including former IGP of the police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun. The 9th accused in the case is Taposh.
It is known that Taposh, who is a singer, composer and sometimes introduced as a music director, used to have chats, songs and various events all night long in his establishment. Taposh and his wife Farzana Munni used to be the center of those chats for senior government officials, political leaders and ministers. The alleged models and beautiful women were his tools to keep the ministers and bureaucrats happy.
It is known that for the past few years, he was responsible for organizing all the cultural events of the Awami League government. Among them, the Red-Green Festival organized by the two city corporations of Dhaka and the Mujib Year program are among them. He has embezzled crores of taka from there.
He also used to launder money by bringing famous artists from abroad in the name of various events.
It is alleged that Taposh, a singer from Bangla, and his beautician wife Munni have laundered a huge amount of money to London. They laundered all this money in the name of bringing foreign artists to organize various government events in the country. As a result, Taposh is now the owner of a lot of wealth abroad. In addition to buying luxurious houses abroad, he has investments in various institutions. Which are looked after by his alleged daughter Nazis Arman and her husband Salman Baig. Taposh has laundered crores of rupees of assets smuggled out of the country through his daughter and daughter's son-in-law.
Earlier, in March 2022, Taposh brought the blue film heroine and current Bollywood actress Sunny Leone to Dhaka, showing the thumbs up to the administration, despite the ban and opposition from the country's Islamic parties. At that time, the Ministry of Information informed that Sunny Leone was not allowed to come to Bangladesh.
But Taposh brought Sunny Leone to Dhaka by showing the thumbs up to the administration, saying that she would dance with this Bollywood star at her daughter's wedding. After a 13-hour trip, the actress left the country without any obstacles.
It is learned that Nazis Arman, the daughter of Taposh's wife Munni from a previous marriage, lives in London. Nazis Arman is working as a personal assistant to Putul, the daughter of the fallen former head of government. She works as an accountant in addition to his personal affairs.
Taposh not only gained influence by using the administration and ministers. He used this influence to deceive many people in the cultural arena. Many people do not want to open their mouths for fear of shame.
A young director, on condition of anonymity, said about Taposh's deception and rise, "I have known Taposh since 2008. He was once a tabla player for a television station in Karwan Bazar. Taposh is a very driven person. He basically has two tools. One is to convince people and the other is his supply of women. He can sing well. This is how he has gained so much power."
Meanwhile, when asked about all the allegations against Taposh, Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Uttara Purba Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md. Muhibbullah told Barta24 that an investigation is underway. A lot of information is being received. This information is being verified, and details can be told after the investigation.
Meanwhile, the investigation and supervision officers in Taposh's case said that a lot of information is being found against Gaan Bangla Chairman Kaushik Hossain Taposh specially regarding his assets abroad. However, the CID is looking into the issue of sending money abroad or money laundering. If we get any important information about this, we will inform the CID.
