Niko case: court summons two Canadian cops on October 30

A Dhaka court today issued summons, asking two officials of Royal Canadian Mounted Police to appear before it on October 30 as witnesses in the Niko graft case.

The two officials are Kelvin Duggan and Lloyd Schoepp, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said.

Meanwhile, defence for BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia completed cross-examination of ACC Deputy Director Muhammad Mahbubul Alam, also the case's complainant.

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of the Special Judge's Court-9 passed the order after the ACC submitted an application seeking order for issuing summons in this regard.

The judge asked the ACC to send the summons to their addresses through the Central Authority (CA).

On September 17, the judge allowed the ACC to produce an official of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and two officials of Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the graft case.

The order came after a hearing from the prosecution and defence on an application submitted by ACC on September 12.

Khaleda's was earlier exempted from personal appearance and advocate Ziauddin Zia represented her in the court.

The BNP chairperson is now undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case in December 2007, accusing Khaleda and several others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko when she was prime minister between 2001 and 2006.