A Queens supermarket owner who prosecutors said considered himself the \u201cKing of New York\u201d was convicted of leading a series of revenge kidnappings within his Bangladeshi community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A federal jury in Brooklyn took about two hours to find Abu Chowdhury, 36, guilty of three counts of kidnapping and three counts of conspiracy to commit kidnapping<\/strong> after a two-week trial that included surveillance footage of the abductions, testimony from victims and evidence from two accomplices who cooperated with prosecutors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chowdhury, co-owner of BD Fresh supermarket in Jamaica, Queens, selected his victims as part of an effort to protect and enhance his reputation, prosecutors said. His wife, Iffat Lubna<\/strong>, was also convicted in a separate trial in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The charges carry potential life sentences, although prosecutors said Chowdhury could realistically face decades in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the victims had been involved in a long-running TikTok dispute with a 41-year-old Queens resident who had challenged Chowdhury’s reputation. Prosecutors said Chowdhury and an accomplice ambushed the man on March 27, 2023, forced him into a Honda and drove him around Queens for several hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The jury was shown video recorded by Chowdhury that prosecutors said documented part of the kidnapping. The victim was later given water mixed with what appeared to be a sedative and regained consciousness at a local hospital with multiple injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two subsequent kidnappings were also linked to disputes involving Lubna, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In one case, a man who had met Lubna through an online English-as-a-second-language class contacted her in May 2023. Prosecutors said Lubna and Chowdhury arranged a meeting that became a trap. Chowdhury and an accomplice allegedly forced the man into a minivan, where Lubna was waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prosecutors said the victim was beaten with a metal bar, had his phone taken, and was forced to provide $1,000 from his bank account. The kidnappers also contacted his father to demand a ransom before taking him to a hotel in Long Island City, where prosecutors said Chowdhury sexually assaulted him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prosecutors also secured convictions against Syed Ruhel Ahmed, 46; Shahed Alom, 32; and Ruhel Choudhry, 36<\/strong>, who were identified as accomplices in the kidnapping operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two other members of the group cooperated with authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The case is expected to move to the sentencing phase, with the kidnapping convictions carrying the possibility of life imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Queens supermarket owner who prosecutors said considered himself the \u201cKing of New York\u201d was convicted of leading a series of revenge kidnappings within his Bangladeshi community. A federal jury in Brooklyn took about two hours to find Abu Chowdhury, 36, guilty of three counts of kidnapping and three counts of conspiracy to commit kidnapping […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":524277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[95,36952],"tags":[611,40230],"class_list":["post-524276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international","category-justice","tag-deultimominuto","tag-united-states"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-2co4","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/Captura-de-pantalla-2026-09-26-a-las-2.32.59-p.-m.webp","dum_api":{"author_name":"Edith B\u00e1ez","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-11-at-11.09.56-AM-96x96.jpeg","categories_name":["International","Justice"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/Captura-de-pantalla-2026-09-26-a-las-2.32.59-p.-m.webp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Kidnappings tied to disputes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Co-defendants also convicted<\/h2>\n\n\n\n