10 former customs officials get bail

Ten former customs officials yesterday surrendered to a Dhaka court and obtained bail in a graft case filed against them 11 years back for allegedly evading more than Tk 15.42 crore in revenue.
Judge Mohammad Zohurul Haque of the Senior Special Judge's Court granted them bail upon a bond of Tk 20,000 with two guarantors after they appeared with their lawyers seeking bail.
An official of the now defunct Bureau of Anti Corruption filed the case with Cantonment Police Station on May 29, 2001.
The case statement says that the customs officials, in collusion with the chairman, managing director and three directors of M/S Art Garments Ltd, set up a garment factory using forged documents.
Between 1994 and 1996, they opened 13 fake L/C at Sonali Bank in Chittagong and imported 50,17,970 yards of cloth in the name of the factory they set up, evading and misappropriating Tk 15,42,54,568 in revenue, it added.
Anti-Corruption Commission Assistant Director Abu Bakar Siddique submitted the charge sheet against the 15 accused on May 22 last year.
The accused are former principal appraisers of Chittagong Customs House Nurul Kamal Chowdhury, Syed Siddiqur Rahman, Abul Kashem and Mohammad Shahjahan, former appraisers Mohammad Abdul Jalil, Priti Rani Chakma, Habib Ullah Bahar and Zafar Ullah, former customs inspector Abdul Ali and former customs superintendent Nurul Amin.
The chairman, managing director and three directors are yet to obtain bail.