Diamond World MD Dilip Agarwala arrested again, this time by DB police in Banani

Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch (DB) has arrested Dilip Kumar Agarwala, managing director (MD) of Diamond World, from the capital's Banani area. He was arrested at around 6pm on Monday (19 October).

DB chief Shafiqul Islam confirmed the arrest to the media. The arrest of the top executive of one of the country's best-known gold and diamond businesses became one of Monday evening's most discussed developments.

The DB chief said there is a case against Dilip Agarwala with the police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He was arrested at the CID's request in connection with that case.

However, the DB chief did not give details of what charges the case was filed under. The nature of the allegations in this new case, and the legal process that follows, therefore remain unclear for now.

This is not Dilip Agarwala's first arrest. After the fall of the Awami League government, RAB arrested him on 3 September 2024. At that time he faced allegations of gold and diamond smuggling, fraud, forgery and money laundering.

That night, he was arrested in a midnight raid on Diamond World's office in the capital's Gulshan. The raid and arrest drew wide attention at the time.

Later, he was shown arrested in a case over the killing of a teenager named Hridoy Ahmed in the capital's Badda. The killing took place during the quota reform movement.

In that case, police also took him into custody for interrogation. Subsequently, however, Dilip Agarwala was released from jail on bail.

While out on bail, he has now been arrested again, this time in connection with the CID case. After the Banani arrest he is expected to be handed over for the next legal steps, though the DB has not provided details on this.

Diamond World is a well-known name in the country's gold and diamond jewellery business. The series of cases and arrests involving its MD has also drawn attention in business circles.

All eyes are now on the CID case — what it alleges and what the investigation finds will determine what follows this arrest.