The ACC will also interrogate Tarique's wife Zubaida Khan Rahman and mother-in-law Iqbal Mand Banu at the ACC headquarters in Shegunbagicha in the capital at 10:00am today.

Meanwhile, the ACC yesterday filed a corruption case against former Awami League lawmaker Dr HBM Iqbal and his wife in connection with amassing a huge amount of wealth through corruption and for concealing assets in wealth statements submitted to the ACC in February.

The anti-graft commission is planning to amend the ACC Act with a provision to allow government agencies to provide information to the commission on demand.

The ACC finalised the recommendations regarding the matter yesterday which will soon be submitted to the cabinet division for the government's approval.

The commission plans to amend the ACC Act, as a number of government agencies failed to provide information to the commission because their own rules did not permit them to do so.

Explaining the rationale for the amendment, ACC Chairman Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury yesterday told journalists, "Income tax related information is a confidential matter now. The ACC was not included among the organisations which could seek income tax related information and we made the recommendations so that the ACC can have the information."

If the government approves the recommendations, the ACC will get the privilege of obtaining confidential information even if the providing organisations' policies stipulate otherwise.

INTERROGATION OF TARIQUE, HIS WIFE AND MOTHER-IN-LAW
A Dhaka court yesterday gave permission to the ACC to interrogate detained Tarique at the gate of Dhaka Central Jail. The reasons for the interrogation were not disclosed.

An ACC official, however, said Tarique will be quizzed about his wealth statement and the anomalies found in it so far during an ongoing enquiry into it. He said Tarique will be especially questioned about the ownership of the newspaper Dainik Dinkal.

Metropolitan Magistrate Jagannath Das Khokon issued the order following a petition submitted by the investigation officer (IO) Zahirul Huda, deputy director of the ACC head office.

In his petition, Huda said based on an enquiry earlier, Tarique needs to be questioned at the jail gate.

The ACC official said the date of interrogation will be fixed on consultation with the jail authorities. IO Huda will be there for questioning Tarique, but Task Force for Interrogation (TFI) members from the army, and officials from the National Board of Revenue, and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will also be there for questioning Tarique.

The joint forces arrested Tarique from his mother's (ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia) Dhaka Cantonment residence in a midnight raid on March 8.

Amin Ahmed, owner of Al-Amin Constructions, filed an extortion case against Tarique, eldest son of Khaleda Zia, on March 8. Tarique was placed on a four-day remand for interrogation about the extortion of Tk 1 crore.

Gulshan police submitted a charge sheet before the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) of Dhaka on March 18, showing 12 people as prosecution witnesses.

Proceedings of the case were earlier stayed due to an order from the High Court (HC). The HC stay order came after Tarique's lawyers filed a writ petition challenging the legality of the case.

Tarique was later shown arrested on different dates in six other extortion cases based on controversial businessman Giasuddin Al Mamun's confessional statements.

Meanwhile, the ACC called Tarique's wife Zubaida and mother-in-law Banu to appear before ACC officials today for questioning about the wealth information in Tarique's statement submitted to the commission.

IO Huda and TFI members will interrogate them, said an ACC official.

CASE AGAINST IQBAL
ACC Assistant Director Mohammad Ibrahim yesterday filed a case with the Gulshan police station against HBM Iqbal and his wife Momtaj Begum Dolly in connection with acquiring wealth worth Tk 11.43 crore through illegal means.

Iqbal has been absconding since the launch of countrywide anti-corruption drive against high-profile corruption suspects in February. He submitted his wealth statement in February to the ACC through a representative. Although the anti-graft commission asked him to submit the statement in person, he obtained an HC order in favour of having it submitted by a representative.

Iqbal in the statement showed his wealth to be worth Tk 38 crore and that the properties and money were in his own and his wife's names.

However, the ACC investigators found that his wealth statement has some discrepancies in relation to his known sources of income and that he hid information about his wealth.

According to the allegations made in the case, Iqbal has a house on Gulshan Avenue, worth Tk 5.3 crore, in his wife's name, which was acquired through illegal means. Iqbal also did not mention a fixed deposit of Tk 5 crore in his wealth statement which the ACC officials discovered during their investigation.