Atiqullah Khan jailed for 13yrs

A special court dealing with corruption cases yesterday sentenced editor of the daily Janakantha Atiqullah Khan Masud to 13 years' imprisonment for amassing wealth illegally and concealing information in his wealth statement submitted to the ACC.
The court also sentenced Masud's wife Shamima A Khan to three years' imprisonment for abetting her husband and keeping the ill-gotten wealth in her possession.
She was also fined Tk 1 lakh, in default of which she has to suffer six months more in jail.
Judge Sirajul Islam of Special Judge's Court-7, set up on the Jatiya Sangsad premises, also fined Masud Tk 10 lakh, in default of which he has to suffer another year in jail.
Earlier, Masud had been sentenced to 21 years' imprisonment, seven years in each of the three cases filed against him for getting a building design approved by the Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkha (Rajuk) through forgery.
The judge also issued orders for confiscating all his ill-gotten assets.
Masud was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for amassing wealth illegally and three years for concealing information in his wealth statement, which are to run consecutively.
Masud, chairman of Globe Janakantha Shilpa Paribar, is now behind bars. Joint forces arrested him on March 7 last year from his office at the Janakantha Bhaban. His sentence will be effective from the day of his arrest
The sentence of his wife, who is on the run, will be effective from the day of her arrest or surrender.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case with Ramna Police Station against Masud, his wife and their two sons Mishal A Khan and Jishal A Khan on September 30 last year.
ACC Assistant Deputy Director Mahmud Hasan mentioned that they concealed information about wealth worth around Tk 1.4 crore in the wealth statement submitted to the commission. The ACC also found out that they amassed wealth worth around Tk 1.14 crore beyond their known sources of income.