Altaf Hossain Chowdhury is a former chief of

Bangladesh Air Force The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) () is the aerial warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The air force is primarily responsible for air defence of Bangladesh's sovereign territory as well as providing air support to the Bangladesh Army a ...

and a

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

politician. He served as the minister of home affairs and commerce from 2001 to 2006. He was a

Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad (), often simply referred to as Sangsad and also known as is the unicameral Legislature, legislative body of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for w ...

member representing Patuakhali-1 constituency in the same period.

Career

Military

Chowdhury started his career as a fighter pilot in the

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

, qualifying as a lead pilot in the

Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizont ...

. In 1971, he was a flight lieutenant. He joined the

in 1972 as a

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

after being released from detention by Pakistan. Between 1974 and 1977 he was instructor at the pilot training school. He was the chief of Bangladesh Air Force from 1991 to 1995.

Political

After retiring from military service in 1995, he joined the

. He went on to serve as a minister of different ministries and a member of the

(parliament) during the BNP-Jamaat administration from 2001 until 2006. Chowdhury served as the president of Patuakhali district BNP in 2008. He lost both the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and 2018 general elections to the

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

candidate Shahjahan Mia. As of 2016, Chowdhury was vice-chairman of the party.

Charges

Chowdhury was taken into custody of joint forces in May 2007 during the caretaker government's reign. The force seized a shotgun and a rifle, 99 bullets, 970 pieces of saree and 160 pieces of lungi of the government relief materials from his Patuakhali residence. On 18 December 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case against Chowdhury for concealing wealth information and amassing wealth worth beyond known sources of income. In April 2017, the High Court cleared the way for a lower court to resume the trial proceedings. On 26 February 2008, the ACC filed another case accusing

Khaleda Zia Begum Khaleda Zia (born August–September 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second fema ...

and 10 of her former cabinet members, including Chowdhury, of taking bribes in the Barapukuria coalmine deal. In December 2017, the High Court asked Chowdhury to surrender to a lower court within four weeks in this case. On 11 June 2011, Chowdhury and

Hafizuddin Ahmed Hafizuddin Ahmed is a politician of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and a retired Bangladesh Army major, and a six-term Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Bhola-3 constituency. He fought in the Bangladesh War of Independence and was awar ...

were arrested and sent to jail in connection with an arson case. They were later freed on bail.

Personal life

Chowdhury is married to Suriya Chowdhury. Chowdhury's two brothers, Babul Chowdhury and Shahin Chowdhury, were accused in an armed robbery case in Mirzaganj Upazila in Patuakhali in 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Altaf Hossain 1940s births Living people People from Patuakhali district Politicians from Barisal Division Chiefs of Air Staff (Bangladesh) Bangladesh Air Force air marshals Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians 8th Jatiya Sangsad members Ministers of home affairs of Bangladesh Ministers of commerce of Bangladesh Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)