Awami League presidium member and lawmaker from Chittagong-12 Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu died of kidney failure early yesterday. He was 71.
He breathed his last at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore at 4:10am (Bangladesh time) yesterday.
Akhtaruzzaman was suffering from kidney diseases since long and went to Singapore for treatment on October 8, said family members.
He left behind his wife, three sons, three daughters and a host of relatives to mourn his death.
The body of Akhtaruzzaman will be brought from Singapore to Dhaka around 6:00pm on Monday, family sources said, adding that he will be buried on Wednesday at the family graveyard in village Hyle Dhor of Anwara after holding five namaz-e-janaza.
President Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Speaker of Parliament Abdul Hamid, among others, expressed their deep shock at the death of the veteran AL leader.
Chairman of the parliamentary standing committee of Jute and textile ministry, Akhtaruzzaman had been elected Member of Provincial Assembly in 1970 and was later elected MP in 1986, 1991 and 2008 elections from Chittagong-12 (Anwara) constituency.
One of the organisers of the 1971 Liberation War, he was also a key organiser of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra at Kalurghat in Chittagong.
After the war, he held the post of industry and commerce secretary of the Awami League.
He had been the president of Chittagong South district unit since 1978 till last year, when he was made a presidium member of the party. Before independence, he was the general secretary of Chittagong south Mahakuma unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League, the pro-Awami League student body.
A leading business figure of the country, Akhtaruzzaman was a former president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).
He founded United Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL) and had served as its chairman. He was also the founder chairman of Aramit Group.
Hearing of his death, leaders and activists of the Awami League and its associate organisations gathered at his house on Surson Road in the port city. Former city mayor and President of Chittagong City unit of Awami League ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury and engineer Mosharraf Hossain MP, among others, went to his home yesterday morning to sympathise his family members.
His first namaz-e-janaza will be held at the South Plaza of parliament at 11:00am tomorrow.
The body will be brought to Chittagong by helicopter tomorrow and the second janaza will be held on the compound of Jamiatul Falah Mosque after Asr prayers.
The third janaza will be held at the ground of Paschim Patiya AJ Chowdhury College at 11:00am on Wednesday and the fourth on the ground of Anwara High School at 2:00pm the same day.
The fifth and last janaza will be held on Hyle Dhor School ground at 4:00pm on Wednesday.