Mumtaz's order was the 'law' of Singair-Harirampur

Once a very poor Baul artiste, Momtaz Begum, used to make a living by singing. She used to travel around the world with her father Madhu Boyati and sing at various shrines. In 1999, she came into the spotlight by singing on the popular magazine program 'Ityadi'. Later, she joined politics with her second husband Ramzan and was elected as a member of parliament from the reserved women's seat by the Awami League in 2009. Then, in the controversial parliamentary elections of 2014 and 2018, she was elected as an MP from Manikganj-2 constituency with the boat symbol.

Since becoming a member of parliament, Momtaz's life has changed dramatically. The man who once lived in hunger has become the owner of thousands of crores of taka. By abusing his power, he has built luxurious houses, restaurants, cold storage, Baul complexes, duplex houses in Dhaka and his own area—he even has real estate assets in Canada. According to locals, Singair and Harirampur upazilas of Manikganj practically became Momtaz's kingdom, where his orders were law.

He formed an armed 'Helmet Bahini' to exert influence in his constituency. Through this force, he controlled tenders, extorted money, traded drugs, seized land, sold government jobs and exerted influence in administrative work. The police administration was also not beyond his influence. If anyone did not obey his orders, he would lose his job or political position. In party politics, he also used his influence to become the president of Singair Upazila Awami League, and made Shahidur Rahman Shahid, the nephew of his first husband, the general secretary.

Momtaz also brought members of his family into politics. He made his stepson Abu Naeem Bashar the mayor of Singair Municipality through vote fraud. His younger daughter Raisa Rose is the vice-president of the Upazila Chhatra League, his nephew Firoz Kabir is the president of the Union Chhatra League, and his half-sister is a UP member. He appointed his relatives and close associates in every local committee of the Awami League and its affiliated organizations.

Despite the long-standing opposition to the abuse of power, the grip of Momtaz and his forces was so strong that no one dared to speak out publicly. Former Harirampur Upazila Parishad Chairman Dewan Saidur Rahman was his main political enemy. There was always a conflict between them over division and dominance.

Before the 2008 elections, Momtaz owned only 48 percent of his ancestral land. But in the next 16 years, he became the owner of hundreds of bighas of land. Investigations revealed that he had built a 'Madhur Adda' restaurant, cold storage, two-story and four-story buildings, bungalows and other structures on 13 acres of land next to the Hemayetpur regional highway in Singair.

Momtaz had been in hiding for the last 9 months after the collapse of the Awami League government. Finally, the police arrested him from a house in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, on the night of May 12, 2025. Currently, there are at least 6 cases against him in Manikganj and Dhaka.