Pradeep made fortune, wife washed dirt off it

When he was the officer-in-charge of Teknaf Police Station, Pradeep Kumar Das used to make money from bribes and corruption.

His wife Chumki Karan, under the disguise of businesses, had been legalising the ill-gotten property of her husband who is accused in ex-major Sinha Rashed Md Khan killing case.

Their misdeeds came to the fore through an enquiry into their wealth by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

In the enquiry, the ACC found that Chumki amassed Tk 3.95 crore of wealth from her husband's "illegal income".

ACC Assistant Director Riaz Uddin yesterday filed a case against Chumki and Pradeep with the ACC's Chattogram office.

The commission had begun the enquiry in 2018. Chumki and Pradeep were asked to submit wealth statements on April 9, 2019. She submitted the statement on May 12, 2019.

Asked why they are filing the case over a year later, Riaz said for the sake of proper enquiry they had to examine all necessary documents.

Pradeep was withdrawn on August 5 from Teknaf Police Station after he was sued for killing the former major. He surrendered before a Cox's Bazar court on August 6.

The Daily Star obtained a copy of the complaint filed against his wife Chumki.

According to the case statement, Chumki showed that her father had given her a six-storey building in Patharghata area of Chattogram on August 1, 2013.

Chumki has two brothers who did not get any "mentionable" property from her father, finds the ACC.

"It seems that OC Pradeep Kumar Das built the building with the money earned through bribes and corruption. And to conceal it, he gave it to his father-in-law who handed it over to his wife," reads the FIR.

Chumki is a housewife. She submitted an income tax return for the first time in 2013-14 fiscal year. Since then, she has been mentioning business as her profession. She claimed she was in the business of fish.

In her 2013-14 and 2014-15 income tax return, she declared her capital Tk 11.2 lakh and income 3.8 lakh.

But no existence of her business was found. She also could not provide any licence for business or bank statements in this regard.

As the wife of a government official, one needs to get approval from the authorities, but she did not have it either.

Chumki also mentioned earning Tk 1.5 crore from fish business from 2002 to 2013. She mentioned taking lease of five ponds in Boalkhali in 2002 at Tk 16.5 lakh for ten years.

In the enquiry, the ACC found that her husband Pradeep joined the force in 1995 as a sub-inspector.

They failed to show any document about the source of Tk 16.5 lakh invested in the fish business in 2002.

"It proves that Chumki, in a bid to conceal Pradeep's ill-gotten money, showed fake fish business. Her income of Tk 1.5 crore from fish business is not acceptable," the complaint reads.

Analysing documents, the commission also found that Chumki had amassed Tk 4.22 crore worth of immoveable property and spent Tk 21.7 lakh as family expenditure.

On the other hand, her legal income is only Tk 49.13 lakh.

Therefore, she amassed Tk 3.95 crore beyond the known income sources.