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Download PDF A Dhaka court today sent former premier Khaleda Zia to jail and placed her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko on a seven-day remand, a few hours after their arrests.
Metropolitan Magistrate ABM Abdul Fattah passed the order after rejecting their bail prayers at about 9:45am.
Khaleda, the embattled Chairperson of BNP, was taken in a sub-jail designed for her on the Sangsad Bhaban complex around 10:10am.
When Khaleda was taken to the sub-jail, several hundred leaders and workers of the party thronged the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s (CMM) Court, Dhaka area. Several leaders and workers of BNP front organisations also chanted slogans.
Earlier, a number of police van posted in front of Khaleda’s Cantonment house at about 5:40am.
At about 5:45am they entered the Shaheed Mainul Road residence of the BNP chief and said they came to arrest Khaleda and Koko on graft charges.
Members of plain cloth joint forces arrested them along with Koko’s driver Mohammad Yusuf and gunman Amir Hossain and brought them out of the house at 7:43am.
They were taken on the court premises with a huge security cordon at about 8:03am.
Khaleda and Koko entered the CMM court at about 8:15am but no journalists were allowed into the court. Even several lawyers were also barred.
The arrest took place after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday filed a graft case against 13 people including the former prime minister and her younger son with the Tejgaon Police Station.
They have been charged with violating tender conditions in appointing Global Agro Trade (Private) Company Ltd (GATCO), an indenting house, for container handling at the Dhaka Inland Container Depot (ICD) and the Chittagong Port ICD yard despite its lacking experience and skills.
The co-accused in the case are ex-chairmen of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Commodore (retd) Zulfiqur Ali and AMM Shahadat Hossain, ex-director (transport) of CPA AM Sanwar Hossain, former chief finance and accounts officer Ahmed Abul Qashem, former Director Luthful Kabir, Ismail Hossain Simon, son of former shipping minister and BNP leader Col (retd) Akbar Hossain, GATCO directors Syed Galib Ahmed, Syed Tanveer Ahmed and AKM Musa Kajol and Akbar’s wife Jahanara Ansar and one Ehsan Yusuf.
The ACC alleged that violating conditions, the former prime minister and her son influenced the tender process and the CPA officials helped GATCO win the tender although a three-member tender evaluation committee of the port termed GATCO unfit for the work.
September 3rd, 2007 at 8:41 pm
“Joto NOVI chilen Meser Rakhal
Tarai Dirlen Haal,
Tarai Anilen Omor Bani
Jo Asey AAR Robe Chiro Kaal”
ALL Prophets lived a poor ,very insignificant life, If we followed their footpath to some extent
the world would have been a much better place for all of us to live in.
Power changes human hands, ONLY ALLAH’s remain,If these power polticians only knew
this truth, they would have followed the codes
accurately to avoid all adversaries attached to their self rules!
September 4th, 2007 at 3:29 am
The regime has just completed its task to neutralize its position for good governance to the nation. This is the beginning of real politics in the country, I wonder how Chief Election Commissioner AKM Shamsul Huda will overcome the election reforms while both main political party AL and BNP leaders will refuse for dialogue, until their Chief’s are bailed.