Additional DIG Abdullah Al Zahir suspended over Khilkhet DJ party and drug raid at his rented-out house

Additional Deputy Inspector General Abdullah Al Zahir has been suspended from service over allegations of drug use in the name of a DJ party at a house he owns and had rented out in Khilkhet in the capital, and the detention of 84 people in a joint raid there.

The order was issued in a notification by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday (31 October). The notification said the order would be deemed effective from 25 October.

According to the notification, the unwanted incident created a negative perception of the police in the public mind and severely damaged the image of the police in public.

Alongside the suspension, Abdullah Al Zahir has been attached to the Police Special Training School (PSTS) at Betbunia in Rangamati.

According to accounts of the incident, in the early hours of 19 October a team of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch (DB) raided his house in the Police Housing residential area of Khilkhet.

The DB said an illegal DJ party and drug use were under way there in a property rented through Airbnb. A total of 84 people, including 26 women, were detained during the raid.

A large quantity of cannabis, yaba, foreign liquor and various drug paraphernalia was also seized from the scene, according to sources linked to the raid.

On 20 October, the day after the raid, Zahir, who had been serving in the Rear and Maintenance branch of Police Headquarters, was attached to Police Headquarters.

The matter was then investigated in detail. The notification said the investigation characterised his conduct as discourteous, unbecoming of an officer and contrary to departmental rules and discipline.

It added that the decision to suspend him was taken for the offence of misconduct under the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules. During the suspension he will receive a subsistence allowance as per the rules.