Gen Harun denied bail

The High Court yesterday rejected two bail petitions filed by Destiny Group President and former army chief Lt Gen (retd) M Harun-Ar-Rashid in connection with two money laundering cases.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court yesterday fixed October 17 for hearing two petitions seeking a 20-day remand for top three Destiny Group officials, including Harun, and its Chairman Rafiqul Amin in the same cases.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the cases with Kalabagan Police Station on July 31 against the group's 22 top officials including Harun and Rafiqul over Tk 3,285.26 crore laundering.
Yesterday, the HC rejected the bail petitions of Harun, saying that those were not filed following proper legal procedures.
The court also said the petitioner would have to seek bail through filing appeals against the lower court order.
Harun's lawyer Abdul Matin Khasru told The Daily Star that they had already filed two appeals on behalf of his client with the HC for bail yesterday afternoon as per the court's instructions.
The HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Justice Farid Ahmed will hear the appeals today, he added.
On Thursday, a Dhaka court sent Harun to jail in connection with the money laundering cases after rejecting his bail prayer.
Another HC bench yesterday issued a rule upon the ACC and the government to explain in two weeks why a Dhaka court's order that had cancelled bails of five Destiny officials should not be declared void.
On September 12, Judge (in-charge) Dr Akhtaruzzaman of the Senior Special Judge's Court of Dhaka cancelled the bail of Harun, Rafiqul and three other Destiny officials.
The HC bench of Justice Khondker Musa Khaled and Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder issued the rule following an appeal filed by Rafiqul against the judge's court order.
Destiny Group, which started its journey in 2000 through multi-level marketing business with just Tk 12 lakh, ended up with an ACC allegation that its top officials laundered Tk 3,285.26 crore and transferred company funds to personal accounts.
The anomalies first came to light after a Bangladesh Bank probe in March found Destiny's cooperative arm engaged in illegal banking.
Other agencies, including the ACC, cooperatives department and commerce ministry, also stepped in to look into the matter.
Hours after a Dhaka court sent Destiny top brass to jail on Thursday, the government announced plans to keep the controversial group's business running by appointing an administrator.
Keeping investors' interests in mind, the government will appoint the administrator within a week after doing away with the current management, Commerce Secretary Ghulam Hussain told journalists on that day.