‘Golden Monir’ acquitted in gold ornaments case
Monir Hossain, better known as "Golden Monir", has been acquitted in a case filed under the Special Powers Act over the recovery of gold ornaments after the judge found testimonies of witnesses to be inconsistent.
Additional Public Prosecutor Mahbubur Rahman told The Daily Star yesterday that Judge Tahsin Iftekhar of the Metropolitan Special Tribunal-15 of Dhaka delivered the judgment on Sunday.
He said four prosecution witnesses told the court that they were pressured by Rab to sign blank papers even though they were not present during the recovery of gold, arms, and other evidence.
Besides, witnesses from the police did not corroborate statements of other witnesses. So, the judge acquitted the accused, added the state lawyer.
Asked about the appeal, the prosecutor said he would decide after getting a certified copy of the full judgment.
In the judgment, the judge said Monir paid tax on the gold ornaments seized by Rab, the prosecutor said.
The judge also said Rab mentioned in the first information report (FIR) that the date of occurrence was November 21, 2020, by overwriting, but the four civilians, who are prosecution witnesses, mentioned in their statements during the trial that the date was November 20, 2020. So, the benefit of doubt would be in favour of the accused, the judge said.
Fifteen prosecution witnesses testified before the court.
Monir was arrested with arms, bullets, foreign liquor, and foreign currency, 7kg of gold ornaments, and Tk 1.9 crore cash at his home in the capital's Badda area, Rab said.
Later, Rab filed three cases against him under the arms, narcotics control, and special powers acts.
On February 5 this year, a Dhaka court acquitted Monir in the arms case, stating that the charges brought against him were not proven.
The trial of the drug case is pending with another Dhaka court.
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