Considering the gravity of the offence, the High Court sent four accused of a money laundering case under police custody rejecting their anticipatory bail petition. Now they are in jail as the lower court also rejected their bail petition.
However, the remaining two accused in the case are still untouched.
The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case on May 5 with the ACC’s integrated office in Dhaka against six persons including five trustees of the North South University on the charge of misappropriation of Tk 3.03 billion during land purchasing land for the institution.
According to the case statement, bypassing the North South University Syndicate, University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Ministry of Education, some members of the Board of Trustees of the university purchased 9096.88 decimal of land in the name of campus development paying an extra charge of Tk 3.03 billion which was later embezzled.
Among the accused, the university’s four trustees, MA Kashem, Benajir Ahmed, Rehana Rahman and Moahammad Shajahan, filed the anticipatory bail petition with the High Court on May 16.
Upon hearing the petition the High Court on May 22 sent four trustees of the North South University under the police custody of the Shahbagh Police Station in Dhaka after rejecting their anticipatory bail petition filed in the corruption case.
The Officer in Charge of the Shahbagh Police Station was asked to place the accused trustees in the concerned lower court within 24 hours from the time of taking them into their custody.
The High Court bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo passed the order after holding a hearing on the petition filed by the trustees.
Later the four trustees, MA Kashem, Benajir Ahmed, Rehana Rahman and Moahammad Shajahan, were produced in a trial court in Dhaka, and after hearing a the court rejected their bail petition and sent them to jail.
Although the four of the accused have already been sent to jail after their appearance for anticipatory bail, the remaining two accused, NSU Board of Trustees chairman Azim Uddin Ahmed and Ashaloy Housing and Developers’ managing director Amin Md Hilali, are still untouched.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said the ACC and other law enforcers are searching for them to arrest. They have committed a cognizable offence, hence they will be arrested at any time, added the lawyer.
Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik who vehemently opposed the anticipatory bail of the four trustees during the High Court hearing said the two other accused must surrender to the court immediately. There can't be any different rule in their cases, added the state lawyer.
Meanwhile, the government has taken an initiative to reconstitute the Board of Trustees (BoT) of North South University by excluding the five trustees. A proposal in this regard will be sent to the Chancellor from the Ministry of Education soon, education ministry sources said.
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