Zulkarnain Saer Khan Sami first came to light in 2021 after Qatar-based Al-Jazeera published a documentary titled โAll the Prime Minister’s Menโ to expose alleged crimes and nepotism by a former army chief of Bangladesh, General Aziz Ahmed, and his brothers, introducing him as a close confidante of the then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The documentary drew huge support from the anti-Awami League quarters, but the Bangladesh Army alleged that it consisted of numerous false and fabricated stories.
A swindler, greedy and a fraudster since childhood, Sami is accused of killing his father, Lt Col (Retd) Abdul Basit Khan, on July 23, 2006. He staged a road accident drama to cover up the murder, a day after his father abandoned him, who was angry because of his eldest sonโs criminal activities.
The real name of Sami is Samiul Ahmed Khan, who was previously arrested by law enforcement agencies and the Military Police for theft, using a uniform and forging credentials of army officers.
He was declared unwanted (persona non grata) in all the cantonments of Bangladesh in 2006 for those crimes.
As of 2021, Sami was living in Hungary under a false identity using Colonel Wasit Khan as his fatherโs name and later moved to the UK. His current passport number is EG0092902, and previous passport numbers were BJ0520260, AC5075647, and B1765649.
A case was filed against him with the Ramna model police station on May 5, 2020, on the allegations of propaganda.
The title of the documentary was taken from a book by Janardan Thakur, published in 1977, on the alleged misuse of power and corrupt practices of politicians and officials during the previous administration of India.
Among the key persons behind the documentary was Sweden-based journalist Tasneem Khalil, who heads Netra Newsโa news portal funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) under the Bangladesh Media Network, which has a board comprised of Kerstin Brunnberg, Bina D’Costa, and Dan Morrison.
A former journalist at US-backed newspaper The Daily Star, Tasneem Khalil founded Netra News in 2019 and recruited journalist David Bergman, controversial for his Jamaat-e-Islami links since 2007. The portal started reporting corruption and human rights violations against the Awami League government when the website was restricted to the Bangladeshi audience.
After the August 5 changeover, Netra News established a bureau in Dhaka and has been working closely with the interim government, led by US puppet Muhammad Yunus, to fight disinformation campaigns by the Awami League supporters and Indian media.
It is also helping the Yunus-led government investigate rights violations by the former government, and has remained silent on the ongoing gross violations of the constitution and human rights.
In May 2020, a case was filed against Sami, Tasneem Khalil, and 11 others on charges of carrying out anti-state propaganda from the โWe Are Bangladeshiโ Facebook page.
Jihadist link
According to his admission, Sami actively participated in the anti-government movement in July-August last year.
He facilitated and coordinated high-level communication among the radical student leaders linked to Islami Chhatra Shibir, journalists at home and abroad, civil society representatives, BNP leaders like Tarique Rahman and Yunusโall of whom are the key beneficiaries of the interim government.
On November 4, Sami created a buzz after he published the first of a five-part audio interview of dismissed army officer, Syed Ziaul Haque Zia, the most-wanted militant leader linked to al-Qaeda with a $5 million reward by the US government.
He claimed Syed Zia contacted him and expressed his interest in giving an interview. The fugitive claimed that the label of murderer and militant given to him was completely false and part of the Awami League government’s malicious plan. He also expressed his interest in surrendering if justice was assured after the judicial reform.
Syed Zia appeared in the interview for the first time since his disappearance in 2011 after being punished for his involvement in a failed coup, after Lt Col (Retd) Md Mustafizur Rahman and filmmaker Khijir Hayat Khan, a close friend of Syed Zia, claimed that he was alive.
Notably, Syed Zia urged Muhammad Yunus to pursue the US State Department to get his name dropped.
He also asked the army chief, General Waker-uz-Zaman, to reinstate him and award him the gallantry award โBir Uttamโ for his role in the coup attempts in 2011 and 2024. Mentionable, Syed Zia professes an Islamic army.
In the interview, Syed Zia said that he was preparing to apply for an exemption of his name from the reward, denying his involvement with militancy and AQIS, which was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist group by the US government in 2016.
Bangladeshi media reports suggest that Syed Zia entered the country with a Pakistani passport in late December and applied to the government for the withdrawal of criminal charges via his counsel, Barrister Sarwar Hossain.
Activists warn that extremist Ziaul Haque, who is the former son-in-law of the governmentโs commission for investigating the incidents of enforced disappearance, is likely to get a clean chit soon, as the government is patronising militants as innocent Muslims and releasing them from jail.
After capturing power, the interim government led by deep state puppet Muhammad Yunus released Jasimuddin Rahmani, the spiritual leader of al-Qaeda affiliate Ansar al-Islam, dozens of jihadists and notorious terrorists.
Rahmani got a royal reception when he came out of jail, standing out of the sunroof of an SUV, with army members on guard, and his jihadist supporters waving hands.
Several hundred militants managed to flee the prisons as their groups launched fatal attacks in July and August, but the government has not been able to capture a single person.
Since then, Rahmani and other jihadist leaders, including Mufti Harun Izhar, who is linked to Hefazat-e-Islam and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, have been speaking at Islamic conferences to instigate armed struggle in Arakan of Myanmar, the northeast states, and Kashmir of India.
They also show sympathy for the Jamaat leaders executed for war crimes and those arrested during the Awami League regime for promoting extremism, raising eyebrows among the secular citizens and the international community.
Sami, US-based Islamist YouTuber Elias Hossain, France-based radical influencer Pinaki Bhattacharjee, and their patron Mahmudur Rahman, who is also the editor of Jamaat-backed newspaper the daily Amar Desh, are helping Rahmani, Syed Zia, and other militants get the clean chit.
In the interview description, Jamaat sympathiser Sami said he could not determine the original data or the truth of all these allegations against Syed Zia.
โSince every citizen has the right to defend themselves and seek justice in our constitution. That is why I asked him some questions since he expressed his inability to do so in a live interview (due to his security situation). As an investigative journalist and human rights activist, I published Major Zia’s statement along with his personal opinion,โ he wrote.
Sources say Sami is paid a handsome amount of money from the DGFI every month at the blessing of Mohammad Faizur Rahman, who was made DG of DGFI after the changeover because of his family connections to the Jamaat. Faizur was later promoted to Lieutenant General and made Quarter Master General (QMG).
A fraudster since childhood
One of Sami’s Ispahani School classmates, Saif M Ishtiaq Hossain, and another person named Omar Sharif Arefin shared details about his family, school and other criminal activities.
Sami’s real name is Samiul Ahmed Khan. After losing his mother at a young age, he got involved in theft and other fraudulent crimes. He then changed his name to Tanvir Mohammad Sadat Khan.
He chose the new name Zulkarnain Saer Khan Sami after getting involved in drugs and the dark world of extremism.
Sami is the eldest of Lt Col (Retd) Abdul Basit Khan’s four children. Although he was born in 1984, his date of birth on school papers is October 8, 1986. He lost his mother at the age of 14. Two years later, his father remarried.
From then on, Sami entered the dark world. After being expelled from Cadet College, he was admitted to Ispahani School in Cumilla. From the age of 15-16, he was involved in various crimes, including taking drugs and harassing girls.
Sami started stealing at a young age. On January 30, 2000, Sami was caught stealing a tracksuit brought from abroad by Major Wadud, who was working in the ECB. He was 17 at the time.
In July 2000, he stole ivory from the Tiger Officers’ Mess and later sold it to Angana Jewellers in New Market, Chittagong.
Due to his father’s job, he sometimes introduced himself as a second lieutenant in the army, sometimes as a captain. On April 28 and 29, 2001, he entered Dhaka Cantonment, posing as a second lieutenant.
He bought a belt, boots and rank uniform from his friend Utpal, who was living in the US, to prove that he was a second lieutenant.
Wearing an army uniform, Sami took a taxicab from Utpal’s house, visited the cantonment, Prothom Alo newspaper office, Rapa Plaza and the zoo, and entered CMH through Jahangir Gate at 2pm, when he was caught by the Military Police (MP).
Two days later, on May 2, he was released from the Army MP desk on the basis of his father’s undertaking.
On July 20, 2006, posing as a RAB officer, Sami bought mobile phones worth Tk990,000 from AJ Telecommunication in the capital’s Farmgate and gave a fake cheque.
Similarly, he promised to buy 10 laptops from a computer firm called Prize Club and brought two laptops by giving a cheque, saying he would check the quality. When the cheque was dishonoured, RAB-1 arrested him based on the complaint. After this incident, he was declared an NPG and made unwanted in all cantonments and offices.
After this incident, Sami was abandoned by his father. The next day, on July 23, 2006, he died in a tragic road accident. Samiโs friends and relatives suspect that he killed his father and staged a road accident drama.
Sami married the daughter of an army officer without informing his first wife, posing as an army officer.
He was also accused of embezzling nearly Tk1 crore, taken from some people in the name of issuing US visas by posing as a security officer of the US Embassy. He later started a restaurant business in Hungary with his father-in-law’s money.
When the BNP, Jamaat and US-backed quarters hatched a plan to overthrow the Awami League government after the 2018 elections, Sami got close to the conspirators staying abroad, including some of Tarique Rahmanโs aides, militant patron Mahmudur Rahman, Shahidul Alam, Pinaki Bhattacharya, Tasneem Khalil, David Bergman and Mushfiqul Fazal Ansarey, the former editor of Just News BD and founder of Right to Freedom, funded by the NED. Ansarey became an ambassador after the August 5 changeover.
With their help, Sami became a part of Al-Jazeeraโs investigation team as well as Netra News, Bangla Outlook, and Haaretz.com. He is also an affiliate of the Organized Crime and Corruption Project Reporting (OCCPR), funded by the USAID, among other sources.
Armyโs rejoinder against Al-Jazeera documentary
In a statement issued on February 15, 2021, the Bangladesh Army said the documentary consisted of โnumerous false and fabricated stories in respect of the Government of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Army, creating unnecessary confusion among the general mass. It is clear from the report that it has been intentionally prepared blending some untrue, fabricated, fictitious, speculative and unsupported information with some isolated incidents in order to discredit the Government of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Army and the Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh Army among the mass people of Bangladesh and the world.โ
The statement said the documentary has revealed much false information about the purchase of spyware by the Bangladesh Army from Israel and the direct and indirect involvement of Gen Aziz’s brothers in various procurement processes of the Bangladesh Army.
Mentioning that the Bangladesh Army has been successfully participating in UN peacekeeping missions since 1988 and has achieved a reputation, expertise, capability and excellence, the statement said it has to remain ever ready to deploy contingents of different types as per the requirements of the UN in the minimum possible time.
On December 29, 2016, the United Nations Department of Peace Operations (UNDPO) requested that Bangladesh inform it regarding the capability of transforming the pledged โSignal Unitโ due to be deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) into a โSignal Intelligence Unit.โ
In the same note, the UN also sent a list of required manpower and equipment through the Statement of Unit Requirement for the said unit. At that time, the Bangladesh Army did not have the equipment required for the Signal Intelligence Unit and that needed to be imported from abroad.
Accordingly, on January 5, 2017, the Bangladesh Army informed the UN that Bangladesh could send the Signal Intelligence Unit by September 2018.
โFollowing this, Bangladesh started the process of procuring a Passive Signal Interceptor from Hungary in December 2017, following the standard Government procurement process, which was completed in June 2018.โ
Although the equipment was procured in accordance with UN requirements, the UN later deployed a Tanzanian signal intelligence unit in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a result, the signal equipment remained with the Bangladesh Army, not in use till 2021 and was ready for deployment within the shortest possible time upon the requirement of the UN, the statement said.
It added that the information provided by Al-Jazeera that the signal device was made by Israel โis not true at all, and the name of Israel is not engraved anywhere in the device. It is to be noted that there is no scope for corruption since the procurement of all military equipment in the Bangladesh Army is done under a specific and set policy and following a number of steps.โ
The procurement process for this signal equipment began long before General Aziz Ahmed took over his office. The process started in 2017 during the tenure of the previous Chief of Army Staff, following the procurement process of the Army Headquarters and with the approval of the government, the Directorate General Defence Purchase (DGDP) entered into the contract on June 26, 2018.
Hence, the attempt of Al-Jazeera to link Gen Aziz or his brother residing in Hungary in the process of procuring the said equipment was motivated by a completely nefarious motive.
In addition, the documentary appears to have been made based on the long-time stay of the brother of General Aziz in Hungary. It is pertinent to mention here that none of his brothers or relatives has ever been involved in any kind of supply or purchase process of arms, ammunition or equipment in the Bangladesh Army.
โIt is conceivable that this documentary is just an attempt to create chaos and anarchy in the country by attacking the head of a reputed and well-organised organisation like the Bangladesh Army and a sensitive institution like the military by smearing his family members.โ
On March 29, 2019, the wedding reception of the son of Gen Aziz was held, where distinguished and eminent personalities attended. Worth mentioning that, before that, both of his brothers (Anis and Hasan) were โacquitted of the conspired, planned and fabricated cases through proper judicial process.โ
As a result, none of his brothers were convicted or fugitives on the day of the wedding reception where they attended. They appeared at the ceremony as fully acquitted, and no case was pending against them at that time.
After the official visit to Singapore in April 2019, Gen Aziz left for Malaysia on a private visit and stayed at his elder brotherโs house. It is, therefore, clear that the incident of โmeeting of the Chief of Army Staff with his expatriate brother in Malaysiaโ shown in the documentary is purposefully presented as โmeeting with the fugitive accusedโ, which is just a shameless propaganda.
The army said basically the documentary was intentionally articulated with hypothetical, unacceptable and unproven information by adding some fragmentary pictures or scenes from different times. Almost the entire subject matter of the report is based on unsubstantiated hearsay, and the informant was not questioned or cross-examined by the affected parties.
Thus, the documentary has lost its acceptability, relevance and credibility due to the unilateral collection of evidence from a fraudulent and fugitive man like Sami and the production of such a baseless documentary using unreliable and misleading information as evidence is deplorable.
It also noted that mentioning and presenting the army chief and portraying his family as a mafia family were โutterly objectionable and unsolicitedโ and unexpected from a news agency like Al-Jazeera.
Based on the documentary, the United States blacklisted Gen Aziz because of his involvement โin significant corruptionโ. As a result of the blacklisting, Aziz and his immediate family members will be ineligible to enter the US.
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