Amjad Khan Chowdhury | |
Native Name: | আমজাদ খান চৌধুরী |
Native Name Lang: | bn |
Allegiance: | (Before 1973) |
Branch: | |
Serviceyears: | 1959-1981 |
Unit: | Armoured Corps |
Rank: | Major General |
Commands: |
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Battles: | Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 |
Birth Date: | 10 November 1937 |
Birth Place: | Natore, Bengal, British India |
Death Place: | Duke University Hospital, North Carolina, U.S. |
Laterwork: |
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Alma Mater: | Nabakumar Institution Pakistan Military Academy Australian Defence College |
Spouse: | Sabiha Amjad |
Children: | 4 |
Amjad Khan Chowdhury (10 November 1937 – 8 July 2015) was a Bangladeshi Army officer and founder of Bangladesh conglomerate PRAN-RFL Group.[1] [2]
Chowdhury was born on 10 November 1937 to Ali Qasim Khan Chowdhury and Amatur Rahman.[3] He belongs to the branch of the Chowdhury family of Natore. His father was an inspector general of police and a former general secretary of Ahmadiyya Jamaat Bengal.[4] His grandfather, Khan Bahadur Abul Hashim Khan Chowdhery, was a former Amir of Ahmadiyya Jamaat Bengal who translated several Ahmadiyya texts into the English language and was buried at the Bahishti Maqbara in Qadian.
He was educated at the Nabakumar Institution in Dhaka.[5] Chowdhury is a graduate of the Pakistan Military Academy and Australian Staff College.[6]
Chowdhury joined Pakistan Army in 1956 and was commissioned in 1959. He was posted in 29 Cavalry as a major during March 1971 and was sent to West Pakistan after the start of the Bangladesh Liberation War. He joined the Bangladesh Army in 1973 after being repatriated from Pakistan, after the Independence of Bangladesh. He served as the GOC of Comilla Cantonment and Bogra Cantonment. He was also the Quarter Master General of Bangladesh Army.[7] He retired from Bangladesh Army in 1981 with the rank of Major General.[8]
After retiring from the army, he founded PRAN-RFL Group. In 1981 he founded RFL (Rangpur Foundry Ltd) to make irrigation pump. In 1985 he founded PRAN to produce agro products. By 2016 PRAN exports to 130 countries and employees 80 thousand people directly.[9] He was the founder president of Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) and Bangladesh Agro-Processors' Association. He also served as the former president of Underprivileged Children's Education Programme.[10]
Chowdhury died on 8 July 2015 in Duke University Hospital, North Carolina, United States from cardiac complications and diabetes. He was buried in Banani Army Graveyard, Dhaka.[11] He left back his wife, Sabiha Amjad, and children Azar J. K. Chowdhury, Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, Sheira Haq and Uzma Chowdhury.