BREAKING! Maiden Bangladeshi Test skipper arrested on charges of corruption

Former Bangladeshi Test cricketer and MP of the now-defunct Awami League, Naimur Rahman Durjoy, has been arrested by the authorities on two isolated charges of corruption. The former Test cricketer was rounded up by a team from Manikganj Detective Branch (DB) at Lalmatia in Dhaka. While addressing the media on July 3, Manikganj Superintendent of Police (SP) Yasmin Khatun revealed that Durjoy had two active cases filed against him in two different police stations. 

Durjoy's arrest comes in the wake of the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, the country's long-standing Prime Minister, who was forcefully removed from power on the back of a powerful student uprising last year. Following the takeover by Mohammed Yunis' interim government, earlier members of Hasina's now-outlawed Awami League political party face charges of arrest. Amidst this unfortunate development, Durjoy has also come under the scanner, and it remains to be seen what fate will have in store for him.

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A look into Durjoy's journey from cricket to politics

Naimur Rahman Durjoy was the first captain of the Bangladesh Test side and took over the captaincy reins in early 2000 when Bangladesh achieved their Test status from the ICC. He captained his national side during their first-ever Test on home soil against India at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. 

As years rolled by, he quietly withdrew from the cricket scene and entered politics by joining the Awami League. Then in 2014, he entered parliament and secured a second term, but was denied nomination in 2024. After the fall of Hasina's government, it all went downhill for Durjoy. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lodged corruption charges against Durjoy. Then, on September 24, 2024, the ACC demanded bank records of Durjoy and his wife, Farhana Rahman.

And to make matters worse, a Dhaka court imposed a travel ban on Durjoy and his family on October 3, 2024, barring him from any international travel.