Meanwhile, Dhaka Cantonment police yesterday pressed charges against Mamun in connection with the case filed for possessing illegal firearms and ammunition.

Proceedings of cases against former minister Nazmul Huda and Awami League leader engineer Mosharraf Hossain were adjourned yesterday while former housing and public works minister Mirza Abbas was shown arrested in a case filed in connection with graft.

Heavily guarded by police, Mamun was taken to the chamber of Metropolitan Magistrate ABM Abdul Fattah around 2:00pm. The magistrate recorded his statement for around two hours.

Mamun told the magistrate that he along with six others extorted the amount on different dates in 2006. The six others are Obaidullah Khandaker, Qamruzzaman, Mahbub, Manik, Hablu and Tareq alias Mota Tareq.

Khairul Bashar, managing director of Abdul Munem Ltd, filed the case with Dhanmondi Police Station on April 19.

Mamun demanded the money identifying himself as a friend of Tarique Rahman while his goons threatened him to stop his construction business if he failed to meet their demands, added the complainant.

Gulshan police had Mamun placed on a five-day remand yesterday in connection with a Tk 81 lakh extortion case filed by Harun Ferdousi, managing director of Judge Distilleries Ltd with Gulshan Police Station on March 27.

In the case, the complainant accused five people including Tarique and Mamun of forcing him to pay them Tk 81 lakh.

The other accused are Tarique's associates Babul Kazi, Enamul Haque and Giasuddin Quaiyum.

Of the Tk 81 lakh, Tarique allegedly took Tk 45 lakh, Mamun Tk 35 lakh and the three others shared Tk 1 lakh.

Earlier, Mamun made confessional statements to the same magistrate on different dates in connection with five other extortion cases filed with Gulshan, Kafrul, Shahbagh and Dhanmondi police stations.

MAMUN'S ARMS CASE
Officer-in-charge (OC) of Cantonment Police Station Shahrum Khan, also the investigation officer (IO) of an arms case filed against Mamun, pressed charges against Mamun yesterday for possessing illegal firearms and ammunition.

Mamun was arrested from his Banani DOHS residence on March 26. Police seized a .22 bore Spanish pistol and eight bullets at his house.

Later, an arms case was filed against him and he was placed on a four-day remand for interrogation.

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM's) Court, Dhaka yesterday sent it to the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court for trial.

CASE AGAINST HUDA
A Dhaka court could not frame charges against detained former communications minister barrister Nazmul Huda, as the jail authorities could not produce him before the court yesterday.

Metropolitan Sessions Judge Momin Ullah postponed the proceedings of the case till April 30 following a time petition by the prosecution lawyers.

Dhanmondi police on April 10 pressed charges against Huda for possessing illegal firearms and ammunition.

The joint forces seized a revolver, 14 bullets, a huge amount of local and foreign currencies, four passports and a mobile phone at Huda's Dhanmondi residence. They arrested him on February 4.

CASE AGAINST ABBAS
Former housing and public works minister Mirza Abbas was shown arrested yesterday in connection with a graft case filed against him with Motijheel Police Station.

The Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) on March 28 filed the case against Abbas and 11 engineers and officials of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) and Public Works Department (PWD).

Violating the authorities' direction in selling 18 abandoned houses of the government, they in connivance with one another sold the houses in a fake auction that resulted in a loss of Tk 127,64,29,000 to the government as the houses were sold at much lower prices than the market value, ACC sources said.

Metropolitan Magistrate Jagannath Das Khokon passed the order following a petition submitted by the IO to show Abbas arrested in the case.

CASE AGAINST ENGINEER MOSHARRAF
Another Dhaka court yesterday adjourned the proceedings of a case filed against Awami League leader engineer Mosharraf Hossain and five others in connection with graft six years back. The court set May 15 for the proceedings of the case

Judge Malik Abdullah Al Amin of the Special Court for Dhaka Division passed the order, as the authorities concerned could not produce Mosharraf before the court.