Mamun was arrested at a rented flat of his friend Monir Hossain Liton at Naya Paltan on Wednesday following a lead from one Russell caught by intelligence officials as he went to a Motijheel bank with a cheque of Tk 50 lakh.

Liton and two others were also detained along with Mamun.

Residents of the apartment at 38 Naya Paltan confirmed yesterday that members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and intelligence agencies raided flat-504 and arrested Mamun.

However, the Rab or other agencies have not yet made any official confirmation about Mamun's arrest, but sources said members of an intelligence agency are now interrogating him.

Meanwhile, family members of Monir, owner of Jonaki International Hotel and a contractor by profession, left the flat soon after the arrest.

"We allowed Mamun to stay in our house as law enforcers did not publish any photograph of Mamun describing him as wanted," a flat owner quoted Liton's wife as saying.

She also said Mamun had gone to the flat only three days before he was arrested, the flat owner told The Daily Star.

RISE OF MAMUN
Mamun became involved in business by establishing Rahman Shippers with two ships in 1991 during the tenure of the BNP government.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman was the managing director of the company while his younger brother Arafat Rahman and Mamun were the directors.

Mamun came to limelight for his involvement in all election related activities--controlled from Hawa Bhaban--prior to and during the 2001 general elections.

He set up One Group soon after the BNP-led four-party coalition government came to power. He also set up a yarn dying factory, One Textile, in Gazipur. The factory has been in production for the last two and a half years. Later, Mamun set up the electric pole manufacturing factory Khamba Ltd in Panchagarh.

Mamun's quick rise as a business tycoon through establishing businesses one after another during the five years of the immediate past BNP-led government's rule surprised many businessmen and politicians.

In that short span of time he set up businesses of textiles, launches, electric pole manufacturing, and a private satellite television channel. Besides owning One Textile, Khamba Ltd, One Composite, Precrust Concrete Industries Ltd, One Spinning, One Denim, One Consumer Product Ltd, and Channel One, Mamun is also the director of Silver Line Composite Mill and Rahman Navigation.

A few former BNP ministers and lawmakers with close link to Hawa Bhaban are reportedly Mamun's business partners.

Of his businesses, electric pole manufacturing Khamba Ltd became the most talked about one in recent times. The organisation was built on around 99 acres of land at Goalpara of Garinabari union of Panchagarh Sadar upazila and started production in 2003.

Mamun also owns another electric pole making factory--Precrust Concrete Industries at Bhaluka in Mymensingh.

Mamun's syndicate reportedly earned thousands of crores of taka by selling concrete electric poles to the Rural Electrification Board. His close aide and business partner Babul Kazi alias Bappi looked after the Khamba Ltd, but he went in hiding soon after the declaration of the state of emergency.

MAMUN'S RITZY HOUSE
Mamun's palatial house--"Khwab" meaning "dream" in Urdu--at South Chhayabithi, about 2km southeast of Gazipur town, is estimated to have taken about Tk 8 crore to build.

Its walls are decorated with specially made terracotta tiles and a large part of the first and second floors rest on two large steel-plated beams. The duplex house is centrally air-conditioned and equipped with foreign fittings.

Mamun used to visit the house once or twice a month and throw parties.

Locals vandalised and set fire to the house following the killing of Awami League lawmaker Ahsanullah Master on May 7, 2004.

The house, built on eight katha land, still stands out in the posh area, outshining other modern buildings in the neighbourhood.