Former chief of Bangladesh Army, Lieutenant General (retd) MA Harun-ar-Rashid, was found dead at the Chittagong Club guest house on Monday morning.

The 75-year-old had travelled to Chattogram on Sunday to appear before a court in a graft case and stayed at a guest house, police said to The Dhaka Tribune, citing family sources.

Rafiqul Amin, managing director of Destiny-2000 Limited, said, “He (Lt Gen Harun) was scheduled to appear before a Chittagong court on Monday in connection with a case. That is why we came to Chittagong. As he did not appear in court at the scheduled time and did not respond to phone calls, club officials went to his room and found him dead.”

"When repeated calls to his mobile phone went unanswered and he failed to respond to knocks at the door, staff members broke the glass door of the balcony and found him lying unresponsive on the bed," said Deputy Commissioner (DC) of CMP’s South Zone, Md. Alamgir Hossain.

His body was sent to the Combined Military Hospital Chittagong, reported Dhaka Tribune.

Police and family members suspect he died from a brain haemorrhage.

Harun-Ar-Rashid served as Chief of Army Staff from 2000 until June 16, 2002.

Born in 1948, Rashid was a resident of Hathazari area in Chattogram. For his contribution to the Liberation War, he was honoured with the gallantry award Bir Protik.

He is survived by wife, one son, one daughter and many relatives.