ACC clears Motia Chy of graft charges
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday submitted its final report (FRT) clearing former food minister and Awami League (AL) presidium member Motia Chowdhury and eight others of a corruption case filed six years ago.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Abu Sufian, executive director of East West Development Ltd, a concern of Bashundhara Group, arrested in connection with the Tk 21 crore bribery case, was sent to jail after being produced before a Dhaka court.
ACC Deputy Director Moniruzzaman Khan, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case, submitted the probe report to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM) Court yesterday afternoon.
The other accused are former joint secretary of food ministry Mohammad Shafayet Ali, its former deputy secretary Dr Mohammad Ayub Miah, former senior assistant secretary Faruk Hossain, former deputy general manager of Agrani bank Ehsanul Aziz, its former senior officer (cash) Naimur Rahman, and two ex-officials Anis Sultan Mamun and Nurul Huda and ex-local permanent representative SM Ershad Hossain.
The IO in the probe report said the charges brought against Motia and others were not proved. He appealed to the court for dropping the charges against them.
An official of the now defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) Syed Tahsinul Haq filed the case against Motia and eight others with Ramna Police Station on April 22, 2002.
In the first information report (FIR), the complainant said that Motia in collusion with others caused a loss of Tk 133,064,800 to the government by importing rice from India from 1998 to 1999.
CASE AGAINST SUFIAN
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Golam Rabbani passed the order for sending Sufian to jail after ACC Deputy Assistant Director Rupak Kumar Saha, also the IO of the case, produced the accused before the court with a forwarding report.
In the forwarding report, the IO said Sufian was arrested for giving Tk 20 crore to detained former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Tk 1 crore to BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman for dropping murder charges against Safiat Sobhan Sanvir, son of Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan.
So, he needs to be kept in jail custody until the investigation completes, the IO added.
The defence lawyers submitted a bail petition saying that their client had resigned as a director of the company on December 8, 2005. He was implicated in the case as part of a conspiracy to harass him.
The ACC on Wednesday approved the charge sheet of the bribery case against Tarique, Babar and six others submitted by ACC Deputy Director and IO of the case Rupak Kumar Saha.
ACC Deputy Assistant Director Abul Kashem filed the case against six persons on October 10 last year for taking a bribe of Tk 21 crore to save Bashundhara Group chairman's son Sanvir from murder charges.
Later, Tarique and former lawmaker Qazi Saleemul Huq Kamal was indicted in the case after their involvement was found in an investigation.
The other accused in the case are Bashundhara Group Chairman Akbar Sobhan alias Shah Alam and his two sons Shafiat Sobhan Sanvir and Sadaat Sobhan, and Tarique's private secretary Mia Nur Uddin Apu.
The ACC accused them of taking and giving bribe to save Sanvir from the charges of killing Bashundhara Group director Humayun Kabir Sabbir on July 5, 2006.
Sources said the investigators found that Tarique had taken Tk 1 crore in bribe while Tk 6 crore was paid in cash and Tk 14 crore through cheques and pay-orders to Babar, who mobilised the amount to Prime Bank Director Saleemul's account.
Babar took the bribe at different times between August 7 and September 13 in 2006.
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