Whole family of ‘casino brothers’ Enamul, Rupon involved in gambling
They owned 20 houses, 128 flats and 25 acres of land in Dhaka and nearby areas.
Besides, they have 91 accounts in different banks where around Tk 2.8 crore were deposited so far and the current balance of these accounts is around Tk 19 crore.
Following several month-long investigation, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has found details of property and cash transaction details of "casino brothers" -- Enamul Haque Enu and Rupon Bhuiyan.
CID officials said that family members of Enamul and Rupon are involved with gambling. But, they get involved in casino business with help of gold trader Joy Gopal Sarker, general secretary of Motijheel Wanderers Club.
Identifying Joy Gopal as one of the "casino masters" ("guru"), Imtiaz Ahmed, Deputy Inspector General of CID, said that they have managed to arrest Joy Gopal recently, who went into hiding after law enforcers started a drive against casino businesses last year.
While talking with reporters at CID office, DIG Imtiaz said that they have got property details while investigating the money laundering cases filed against the "casino brothers". The siblings have bought these properties through the illegal business, he said.
"We have almost completed the investigation of four money laundering cases out of five and we are hopeful to submit the charge sheet of these four cases next week," he said.
In reply to a query, DIG Imtiaz said that they are bringing charges against 51 people in these four money laundering cases, including Enamul, Rupon and family members.
"We would press charges against 16 people in the money laundering case filed with Genderia Police Station, 24 people in two cases filed with Sutrapur Police Station and 11 people in a case filed with Wari Police Station," he said.
He, however, refused to disclose details on the accused until the charge sheets were placed in court.
Asked about sending money abroad, Imtiaz said that they did not get any such information that the casino brothers sent money out of the country. "It seems that they have bought properties in the country with illegal money," he said.
CASINO STARTED AT WANDERERS CLUB IN 2014
The CID official says the casino brothers entered the realm of gambling, holding the hand of his father. In 2007, they set up a gambling board at Motijheel. At one point they joined the Wanderers Club that year and started gambling there.
In 2014, when Joy Gopal got close to them, the two brothers started a casino business in that club and earned massive wealth, said DIG Imtiaz Ahmed.
He, however, failed to give any idea how much money they earned from these casinos every day.
Imtiaz said that the casino board came to the country through ships. "We are now looking for others involved with gambling and we would file a case against them soon," he said.
WHO IS JOY GOPAL?
DIG Imtiaz Ahmed said the name Joy Gopal came to the fore during the interrogation of casino brothers and arrest of several people in the casino case.
"So far, we came to know he is a gold trader by profession. But he was one of the masterminds in the casino business in Motijheel," he said, adding they have started an investigation about his activities.
On September 16 last year, Rapid Action Battalion raided the casinos of various clubs including Wanderers. Later, on September 24, Rab raided the casino brothers' house in Gendaria and recovered Tk 5 crore, 7.5 kg of gold and firearms from their vault.
CID arrested the casino brothers from Keraniganj on January 13.
On February 26, Rab found another house in Old Dhaka and recovered Tk 26 crore. Among the cases filed in those incidents, CID is investigating five cases under the Money Laundering Act.
BAIL OF ENAMUL, RUPON AND JOY GOPAL REJECTED
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court today rejected bail petitions of Enamul, Rupon and sent them to jail in a money laundering case.
Metropolitan Magistrate Debbrata Biswas passed the order after CID Inspector Mehedi Maksud, also the investigation officer of the case, produced them before the court on expiry of a one-day remand.
Meanwhile, Joy Gopal Sarkar, general secretary of Wanderer's Club in Motijheel, was shown arrested today in another money laundering case filed with Gendaria Police Station on September 25, last year.
The same court also rejected his bail petition and sent him to Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj after he was produced before the court.
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