Lt Gen (retd) Masud Uddin Chowdhury, much-discussed for his role in the 1/11 incident, has been appointed as presidium member of Jatiya Party and defense adviser to the party chief HM Ershad.

The appointments were made following the party constitution and it will come to effect immediately, said a letter, signed by Ershad, issued yesterday.

Earlier, Masud bought nomination forms from both Awami League and Jatiya Party on November 9 and November 14, to contest the upcoming national election from Feni-3 constituency.

Masud was general officer commanding (GOC) of 9 Infantry Division at Savar when a state of emergency was declared across the country on January 11, 2007.

He was made chief coordinator of the National Coordination Committee on Serious Crimes and Corruption and was shortly promoted to the position of lieutenant general and appointed to National Defence College on June 2, 2008.

In less than a week, he was placed in the foreign ministry and was appointed to the Bangladesh High Commission in Canberra on June 8, 2008. Masud could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts.