Sylhet BNP chief Ariful Haque gets 10yrs

A court here yesterday sentenced Sylhet city BNP President Ariful Haque Chowdhury to 10 years imprisonment while his wife to three years in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Ariful Haque Chowdhury, also commissioner of ward no 18 of the city corporation, is now in Sylhet Central Jail. His wife Shama Haque Chowdhury is still at large.
District and Sessions Judge M Abdul Gafur pronounced the judgment at around 5:00pm.
Nasiruddin, deputy director of the ACC Sylhet office, filed the case on September 9, 2007 against the couple on charge of amassing wealth worth over Tk 2.63 crore through corruption.
In the case, the complainant alleged that Ariful and his wife concealed information about property worth Tk 1.5 crore and amassed property worth over Tk 1.58 crore “illegally”.
Later on March 3, Assistant Director of the ACC Comilla office Shahin Ara Momtaj filed charge sheet accusing them of accumulating wealth worth over Tk 2.5 crore through “corruption”.
Chief Judicial Magistrate of Sylhet Rafiqul Alam accepted the charge sheet on March 5 and forwarded it to the District and Sessions Judge's Court for trial.
The court framed charges against the accused on April 22 under section 26 (2) and 27 (1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004.
Known as a close aide to former finance minister and BNP stalwart M Saifur Rahman, Ariful's name was in the first list of corruption suspects published in January last year.
The joint forces arrested him on February 25 last year.