Ex-Jamaat MP Shahjahan Chy sent to jail on surrender

Former Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Shahjahan Chowdhury was sent to jail after he surrendered before a Chittagong court yesterday in a case filed in connection with concealing his actual wealth in his wealth statement submitted to the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC).
Shahjahan surrendered before the Court of Fifth Additional District and Sessions Judge Mirza Mohammad Ayub Ali on the scheduled date for hearing on charge framing of the case filed against him and former foreign minister M Morshed Khan's son Faisal Morshed Khan.
Following appeals by defence lawyers for time and division in jail, the court directed the jail authorities to make necessary arrangement for the accused as per the jail code and rescheduled the hearing on the charge framing to November 4.
The date for hearing on the charge framing was scheduled for October 18 but it was re-fixed to yesterday following a time petition made by the state lawyers.
ACC Deputy Director Abul Kalam Azad filed the case against Shahjahan Chowdhury with the Bandar Police Station in Chittagong on July 1.
Mohammad Jahangir Alam, deputy director of the ACC Chittagong-2, submitted the charge sheet on October 1 accusing Shahjahan Chowdhury of concealing his wealth in the wealth statement and Faisal Morshed Khan of abetting Shahjahan.
According to the charge sheet of the case, Shahjahan Chowdhury in his wealth statement, submitted on February 20, mentioned he possessed properties worth Tk 2 lakh 41 thousand.
However, ACC investigation found that his actual wealth is Tk 3 lakh 41 thousand. A Range Rover V8 was also recovered from his possession.
In the statement, Shahjahan said he imported the vehicle under the duty-free privilege of MPs, but the concerned agency, Motor World Ltd, did not hand it over to him due to his failure to pay up the Tk 50 lakh price.
During investigation, the ACC found that Shahjahan had released the vehicle by paying the amount by opening an L/C with Arab Bangladesh (AB) Bank Mohakhali branch in August, 2006 with the help of Faisal.
A court issued arrest warrants against Shahjahan and 16 others in connection with a murder case filed on September 9. That case was filed by freedom fighter Nurul Kabir and the court pressed charges against 42.