Detectives have detained 84 people, including 26 women, and seized drugs in a raid on a house rented out by a senior police officer in Dhaka.
The raid took place early Tuesday at a three-storey house in Police Housing-1, under Khilkhet Police Station, said Md Shafiqul Islam, additional commissioner and chief of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch.
A team from the Detective Branch’s Uttara Division acted on intelligence that the house hosted “DJ parties, drug use and drug dealing” throughout the night.
Those detained include 58 men and a citizen of Afghanistan.
Shafiqul said the house belonged to Abdullah Al Zahir, an additional deputy inspector general at Police Headquarters, who had rented it out through Airbnb.
Legal action is being taken over the incident, he said.
Later in the day, Zahir was withdrawn from the Personal Management-2 branch at Police Headquarters and placed in the officer on special duty (OSD) pool.
DB officials said they seized cannabis, yaba, alcohol, condoms and equipment used to consume yaba during the raid.
Uttara DB Deputy Commissioner Ilias Kabir said the house was rented through Airbnb and managed by a “host and co-host”. The co-host, Mahbubul Alam, was among those detained.
Zahir told bdnews24.com that the house in Police Housing Society was listed on Airbnb and the Traveller platform.
Its courtyard was rented out for birthday parties and Gaye Holud, a traditional Bengali pre-wedding turmeric ceremony, he said.
“We have strict rules. If illegal activities, drugs or alcohol are found, a fine will be imposed. These rules are listed on both platforms, and we repeatedly warn people who rent the house,” he said.
Zahir questioned whether landlords should be held responsible for crimes committed by tenants without their knowledge.
“If you own a flat in Dhaka and rent it to someone who secretly commits a crime, the responsibility lies with that person. How can the landlord manage that? Once you find out, you stop renting to them, blacklist them or evict them,” he said.