Tofail Ahmed Joseph | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Nationality | Bangladeshi |
| Occupation | Former gangster |
| Known for | Conviction for murder; alleged ties to ruling Awami League |
| Relatives | Aziz Ahmed (brother), Haris Ahmed (brother), Anis Ahmed (brother), Tipu Ahmed (brother) |
Tofail Ahmed Joseph is a Bangladeshi national and a former convicted killer with a history of organised crime activity. [1] He is one of the Ahmed brothers, a group of siblings known for their involvement in gang violence in Dhaka during the 1980s and 1990s. [2] Joseph was convicted and sentenced to death for murder in 2004, but later received a presidential pardon and was released from prison in 2018. [2] His close familial ties to former Bangladesh Army chief Aziz Ahmed have drawn significant public attention and criticism. [3] [4] [2]
Joseph's father was Abdul Wadud and mother was Renuja Begum. [5] [6] His father was an official of Biman Bangladesh Airlines. [6] The family had five sons, Anis Ahmed, Aziz Ahmed, Sayed Hossain Tipu, Haris Ahmed, and Tofail Ahmed Joseph, and three daughters. [6] He was an activist of the Bangladesh Chhatra League in Mohammadpur. [5] His family was evicted from their home, purchased with a loan from the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation, by a criminal gang. [5] He was stabbed in the early 1990s by gangster Morshed injuring his lung. [6]
Joseph was part of a powerful gang led by the Ahmed brothers, who controlled parts of Mohammadpur. [7] The gang was involved in extortion, violence, and allegedly protected politicians of the Awami League, including Sheikh Hasina during the politically unstable 1980s and 1990s. [7] He later became a member of the Seven Star Gang led by Subrata Bain. [5]
In 1996, Joseph was one of three brothers implicated in the murder of Mustafizur Rahman Mustafa, a leader of the Freedom Party. [7] [5] Mustafizur Rahman Mustafa provided a deathbed statement, which became the basis for Joseph’s conviction. [7] In 2004, he was sentenced to death by the Speedy Trial Tribunal of Dhakafor his role in the killing. [7] [1] He had 10 other cases regarding illegal firearms and extortion. [5] His brothers, Haris Ahmed and Anis Ahmed were sentenced to life imprisonment in the case. [8] On 20 September 2007, the High Court Division upheld his conviction. [1]
On 9 December 2015, Joseph’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the Bangladesh Supreme Court. [5] He was represented by Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, Mahbub Ali and A. M. Aminuddin. [1] In 2018, during the tenure of his brother Aziz Ahmed as Chief of Army Staff, Joseph received a presidential pardon and was released from jail. [7] The Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, recommended him for pardon. [9] The pardon drew condemnation from civil society and international observers who questioned the transparency of the process and the apparent political favouritism. [7] Before his pardon, he was staying in relative comfort at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University as a VIP prisoner. [10]
Joseph is the brother of General Aziz Ahmed, who served as Bangladesh’s Chief of Army Staff from 2018 to 2021. [7] According to an Al Jazeera's investigation documentary All the Prime Minister's Men , Aziz played a key role in securing his brother’s release. [7] Recordings and documents obtained by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit show that Aziz used his influence to support Joseph and his other fugitive brothers, Haris Ahmed and Anis Ahmed. [7]
In 2019, Joseph was seen publicly attending his nephew’s high-profile wedding in Dhaka alongside his fugitive brothers and General Aziz. [7] The event was attended by the President of Bangladesh, Mohammad Abdul Hamid, and other political and military dignitaries. [7] In 2021, the Bangladesh Government pardoned Haris Ahmed and Anis Ahmed. [11] In late 2018, shortly after receiving the presidential pardon Joseph was photographed meeting with Bangladesh’s Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan at the minister’s residence. [12] This meeting, which occurred just before his brother Aziz Ahmed’s appointment as Chief of Army Staff, raised serious concerns about the political motivations behind Joseph’s release. [12] Further scrutiny emerged when Netra News and Al Jazeera revealed photographs of Joseph with Benazir Ahmed, then head of the Rapid Action Battalion and later Inspector General of Police. [12] Bangladesh government dismissed the report as anti-Bangladesh propaganda. [13]
Both Joseph and his brother Haris secured Bangladeshi passports under fake names. [14] They had also acquired citizenship and a passport of Antigua and Barbuda. [14] After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government in August 2024, their national identity cards were cancelled by the Bangladesh Election Commission. [15] [16] Their passports were later cancelled. [17] In September 2024, Salim Prodhan, the chairman of the Japan-Bangladesh Security Printing and Papers Company Limited, filed a extortion case against him and his brothers. [18]