Diamond World Managing Director Dilip Kumar Agarwala arrested

The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested Diamond World Managing Director Dilip Kumar Agarwala from the capital’s Banani area on Monday evening.

DB Chief Shafiqul Islam confirmed the arrest, saying, “There is a case against him at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). At CID’s request in connection with that case, he was arrested in Banani at 6pm.”

On November 17 last year, the CID filed a case with Gulshan Police Station against Agarwala on charges of money laundering 6.78 billion taka earned through the buying and selling of gold and diamonds smuggled into the country.

Later, in a press release, the CID said its Financial Crime Unit in Dhaka had launched an investigation on September 29 last year by reviewing the financial transactions, documents and bank accounts of Diamond World Limited.

The investigation found that the company had earned illegal money by buying and selling gold and diamonds smuggled into the local market.

A case was filed after preliminary evidence confirmed smuggling and the generation of money from undisclosed sources.

The then Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Dilip Kumar Agarwala on September 3, 2024.

That midnight, RAB conducted a raid after surrounding the Diamond World office in Gulshan.

He was later shown arrested in a case over the killing of a teenager named Hridoy Ahmed in Dhaka’s Badda during the July mass uprising.

Police also took him into custody for questioning.

He was released from prison on October 1, 2025.

After he was granted bail in 11 cases, an additional Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge was transferred as a disciplinary measure to Bhola.

Dilip Kumar Agarwala contested the 12th parliamentary election as an independent candidate from the Chuadanga-1 constituency (Alamdanga and part of Sadar) but lost.

He is a member of the central subcommittee on industry and commerce of the now-banned Awami League.