Rab puts on display a huge haul of gold, diamonds, foreign liquor and currencies worth about Tk 40-50 crore recovered from the house of Hotel Purbani MD in Dhanmondi yesterday. Photo: STAR

The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday seized diamond and gold ornaments, alcoholic beverages, bonds, shares and foreign and local currencies estimated to be around Tk 50 crore in all, raiding Dhanmondi residence of Hotel Purbani International's managing director.

They however could not arrest the owner, Mahbubur Rahman Joynal.

A team of the elite crime busters entered the house on road No. 27 acting on a tip-off that "Yaba girl Nikita" alias Ena alias Zannatul Ferdousi had been holed up there.

Rab said half an hour before the raid began at 12:30am Joynal and Nikita drove out of the house. Nikita's father Abdun Noor claimed that his daughter is Joynal's wife but Rab suspects she is his girlfriend.

Suspecting that a huge cache of Yaba pills might be stashed inside, the Rab men searched the house and seized shares of different companies worth around Tk 28 crore, bonds worth Tk 1 crore, local currency Tk 51.10 lakh, currencies of at least 15 countries, 38 credit cards of as many local and foreign banks, 17 bank cheques, and diamond and gold ornaments worth several crore taka, alcoholic beverages and two passports.

During the swoop, they also took hold of some documents to know about Joynal's businesses.

After over 16 hours, Rab made a seizure list with the assistance of National Board of Revenue (NBR) officials.

The NBR will examine Joynal's income tax files to know whether he had declared the wealth in his income tax returns.

The crime busters also seized seven pieces of Viagra, three guns, one revolver and over 200 rounds of bullet. It however could not be confirmed immediately if the firearms are licensed.

Rab officials said they found Nikita's photograph during the recent bust at the Gulshan office of Yaba dealer Amin Huda. And since then they have been on a hunt for her. They finally made some progress after Dipa who once went to Huda's office with Nikita was arrested recently. Under interrogation, she disclosed information about Nikita's life and her possible whereabouts.

Following up the leads, the crime busters raided a flat on the 16th floor of Karnaphuli Garden City market-cum-residential block and hauled in Nikita's parents and a brother for questioning.

The brother told the interrogators that his sister had been living with Joynal at his house in Dhanmondi. Rab said Nikita's sister Pushpa Noor alias Sabita too is a Yaba user and dealer.

Rab-3 Director Sultan Ahmed Noorani, Additional Director General of Rab Gulzaruddin Ahmed and some other top officials went to the scene of yesterday's raid and stayed there till the end.

"The assets that we have seized don't seem to have been earned through legal means,” Noorani told newsmen after the raid was over at 4:30pm.

He said, “We are surprised to find the huge stock of foreign liquor and currency. Legal steps will be taken in this connection.”

Joynal's brother Azizur Rahman who lives in the same building said they do not keep contact with him for the rowdy way he leads his life.

Rab said Joynal, aged around 55, is divorced. He had been married to a US woman. He used to stay on the ground floor of the three-storey building that would be frequented by many of his girlfriends.

Meanwhile, the Task Force for Interrogation (TFI) yesterday grilled Amin Huda about the deaths of movie stars Salman Shah and Sohel Chowdhury.

Huda told the interrogators that he does not know anything about those for which both the victims' families point the finger at his uncle Aziz Mohammad Bhai.

He fell sick at one stage of the interrogation, said sources.

The Rab recently unearthed Huda's clandestine lab used to make Yaba and arrested him with over 1.3 lakh pills and huge chemicals.