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Download PDF The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday said they are not considering any move at this time seeking arrest of 13 accused in the Barapukuria coal mine graft case.
Of the 16 people charged, former prime minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, and two members of her cabinet Altaf Hossain Chowdhury and AKM Mosharraf Hossain are already behind bars in different cases.
ACC Director General (Admin) Col Hanif Iqbal however said, “The accused might be arrested if needed in the course of investigation that has yet to begin.”
He made the observations during a routine press briefing at the ACC headquarters yesterday afternoon.
Many high profile individuals including former ministers, lawmakers, political leaders and businessmen, however have been detained since the army-led caretaker government’s anti-graft campaign began in February last year. But most of those arrests were made before charges were brought against the graft suspects.
BNP leaders M Saifur Rahman, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, M Shamsul Islam, MK Anwar, barrister Aminul Haque, and Jamaat leaders Motiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid are the accused former ministers still free.
Col Hanif said the accused might be held if the general arrest conditions apply to them. He explained that conditions warranting arrest include circumstances where a suspected offender attempts to destroy case evidence or leave the country.
Hosaf Group Chairman Moazzem Hossain, an accused in the case, has left the country a week before the case was filed, according to sources.
The ACC filed the case Tuesday for graft in awarding Barapukuria coal mine operation contract to a Chinese company causing a loss of over Tk 158 crore to the public exchequer. The charges were brought under sections 409/406/109/419/420 of the penal code and 5 (2) of corruption prevention act of 1947.
Asked if the case might be brought under the Emergency Power Rules (EPR), 2007, Hanif said had the commission wanted to do so it would not have filed the case now with the appeal against the High Court verdict that declared illegal the government’s having the Tk 2.99 crore extortion case against Awami League President Sheikh Hasina under EPR awaiting the Supreme Court ruling.
The ACC has decided not to file or bring any case under the emergency rules until the apex court disposes of the matter.
Meanwhile, UNB reports that Jamaat Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami yesterday described the graft case as politically motivated. It all came at a time when the caretaker government is preparing to hold dialogue with political parties, he added.
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