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Graft Allegations against Ex-Judge Motahar Hossain

ACC summons Bashundhara Group official

Staff Correspondent
The Anti-Corruption Commission has asked an official of Bashundhara Group to appear before it today in connection with graft allegations against former judge Motahar Hossain who acquitted a son of the business group's Chairman Ahmed Sobhan Shah Alam in a murder case in 2011.
"Based on some significant information, we have summoned Pobitro Sarkar, deputy general manager of Law Division of the group," said ACC Deputy Director Harun-ur-Rashid, who is leading the probe against the judge. The official declined to comment further on the issue.
When contacted, Sarkar said, "The ACC deputy director, Harun-ur-Rashid, told me to go see him but did not say what he wanted to talk about."
While serving as the judge of Speedy Trial Tribunal-4, Motahar Hossain dropped charges against the five accused, including Shah Alam's son Shafiat Sobhan Sanvir, in the killing of Humayun Kabir Sabbir, a high
official of Bashundhara Group. Sabbir was murdered in July 2006.
In the verdict, Motahar said the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against the accused. He also did not take into cognisance as evidence the statements of two eye-witnesses who were missing during the trial but had described the killing before a magistrate.
According to law, if any witness is missing or dead, the court can take their statements recorded by a magistrate as evidence.
Sanvir was the prime accused in the Sabbir murder. An investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) revealed a few years ago that the Bashundhara Group chairman gave a Tk 21 crore bribe to former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar to save his son.
The other accused in the murder case were security guards of Sanvir's house Nure Alam and Humayun Kabir and Sanvir's bodyguards Khairul Hassan Ujjal and Shamsuddin Ahmed. The ACC has also summoned office assistants Abul Kalam Azad of Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 and Md Ariful Islam of Special Judges Court-3 in Dhaka, the two courts where Hossain served, to quiz them tomorrow.
Yesterday, Motahar Hossain's bodyguard Badal Dewan and chauffeur Sohrab Hossain were interrogated by the ACC at its office in the capital's Segunbagicha. On January 23, the stenographers of Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 and Special Judges Court-3 were interrogated.
Motahar Hossain also acquitted BNP Senior Vice-chairman Tarique Rahman in a money laundering case last November.
The graft watchdog opened investigation against the judge on January 20 after it received allegations that Motahar, who retired last December and left for Malaysia on January 8, amassed huge wealth illegally and laundered money abroad during his service term.
As a special tribunal judge, Motahar dropped the charges against Tarique, elder son of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, in the laundering of Tk 20.41 crore to Singapore. In the same case, he sentenced Tarique's friend and business partner Giasuddin Al Mamun to seven years in prison and fined himTk 40 crore.
In the judgment, Motahar said Tarique spent a portion of Tk20.41 crore from Mamun's
Singapore account and mentioned it in his wealth statement, so he could not be charged.