GK Shamim’s rise in power and politics

He is usually surrounded by at least six armed bodyguards whenever he goes outside. Anybody who saw him even a few days ago with his bodyguards would think that he was a high-level government official. But he was actually a Jubo League leader.

Meet SM Golam Kibria Shamim alias GK Shamim, who was arrested by Rapid Action Battalion during a raid in the capital's Niketan area on Friday.

During the raid, a RAB-1 team seized Tk1.80 crore from his house and Fixed Deposit Receipt (FDR) worth Tk165 crore from his office in the area. 

Shamim is cooperatives secretary of Jubo League's central committee.  

He is also known as an influential contractor in the capital's Sabujbagh, Bashabo and Motijheel areas.

Sources said he used to control most of the contracts of the Public Works Department, and by applying his political power, he used to win most of the contracts.

As per intelligence sources, local police, politicians, administrative officers and journalists got paid to keep silent.   

"If we look into his past political career, we can see that he had been in these activities when the BNP was in power," a source said.

During BNP's tenure, Shamim was the general secretary of Dhaka City Jubo Dal. 

As per the sources, he was also very close to BNP's central leader and former public works minister Mirza Abbas.

"After BNP's term was over, he secured his safety by joining the Awami League's co-organisation, Jubo League," said a Jubo League leader, asking anonymity.

Shamim is the son of late Md Afsar Uddin from Dakkhinpara village of Narayanganj's Sonargaon upazila. His elder brother Golam Habib Nasim is a Jatiya Party leader in Dhaka.

Local sources said after completing primary and high school education, he moved to Dhaka.

He has a flat at Banani's old DOHS.

Shamim owns three more buildings at Basabo and hundreds of bighas of land in Demra, Sonargaon, Bandarban and Gazipur, as per sources.