Bangladesh

Collected Shamsul Haque Chowdhury, Moazzem Hossain Ratan and Nurunnabi Chowdhury Shaon

Three MPs among six people barred from leaving country

Bangladesh Live News | @banglalivenews | 22 Jun 2021, 03:24 pm

Dhaka, June 22: A court has banned six people, including three members of parliament, from fleeing the country in connection with allegations of illegal acquisition of wealth through various businesses, including casinos.

They are Chittagong-12 (Patia) MP and Jatiya Sangsad Whip Shamsul Haque Chowdhury, Sunamganj-1 MP Moazzem Hossain Ratan, Bhola-3 MP Nurunnabi Chowdhury Shaon, Housing and Public Works Ministry Joint Chief Sajjadul Islam, former Additional Chief Engineer Md. Abdul Hai and Dhaka Wanderers Club employee Abul Kalam Azad.

The ban was ordered by Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge KM Imrul Kayes on June 13 following an application by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). However, the matter was announced on Monday (June 21) night.

Earlier, in a letter sent to the Special Branch (SB) Immigration of the Police on October 23, 2019, the ACC had requested a ban on foreign travel against 22 people, including the six. However, following the recent directions of the High Court, the organisation had to seek the permission of the lower court to ban them from either leaving the country or traveling abroad. Following this, the court banned the six from leaving the country on the basis of the ACC's application.

On September 18, 2019, members of the law enforcement forces launched an anti-casino campaign. Immediately after this, from September 30, 2019, the ACC started an investigation against those who acquired illegal assets through casinos. Based on the information obtained from the investigation, about 23 cases have already been filed. Similarly, chargesheets in 12 cases have been filed. Illegal assets of persons involved in these cases have also been seized. Many accused have been arrested.

A seven-member team led by the commission's director Syed Iqbal is in charge of the investigation. The other members of the team are ACC Deputy Director Md. Jahangir Alam, Md. Salahuddin, Gulshan Anwar Pradhan, Assistant Director Mamunur Rashid Chowdhury, Saiful Islam, Ataur Rahman and Mohammad Neyamul Ahsan Gazi.