Aman gets 7yrs for Tk 10 lakh extortion

Amanullah Aman

A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced detained former state minister for labour and employment Amanullah Aman to seven years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) for extorting Tk 10 lakh from a businessman in June of 2004.
Aman was earlier sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment for amassing huge wealth through illegal means.
The court also sentenced one to five years' RI and ten others to six months imprisonment in the same case.
Mojibur Rahman Dipu was given five years' in jail while Mohammad Mastan, Shaikat Hossain alias Sona Miah, Mojibur-2, Latif Bepari, Mohammad Hossain, Zillur, Kalam Member, Raja, SM Firoz and Abdul Hamid Khan were given six months each in jail.
Of them, Aman, Dipu, Latif, Kalam, Firoz and Hamid were present in the court during the delivery of the verdict while the other six were tried in absentia.
The court fined Aman Tk one lakh, in default to suffer another six months in jail while Latif was fined Tk 10,000, in default to suffer three more months in jail. The remaining ten convicts were fined Tk 500 each, in default to suffer 15 days' more in jail.
Judge Mohammad Altaf Hossain of the Sixth Additional District and Sessions Judge's Court handed down the judgement at about 2:00pm at a packed courtroom.
Earlier, the prosecution and the defence had completed their arguments and the court recorded statements of 13 prosecution witnesses.
According to the prosecution, a gang of miscreants on instructions from Aman went to West Aganagar Khwaja Market and demanded Tk 25 lakh as extortion from businessman Rabiul Alam on June 26, 2004.
They also threatened to kill him and demolish the boundary walls of his residence at Dakkhin Keraniganj if he refused to pay the amount.
Fearing for his life, the victim paid Tk 10 lakh to Aman's wife on May 10, 2005, the complainant added.
An extortion case was filed against Aman and others with Dakkhin Keraniganj Police Station on March 6 last year.
The investigation officer of the case pressed charges on July 10 showing 15 people as prosecution witnesses. The court framed charges against the accused on October 16 last year.
The case was brought under the Emergency Power Rules for its quick disposal.