Ex-DSCC mayor Khokan, six others sued for embezzling Tk34.89cr

Seven people, including former mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Sayeed Khokon, were sued over embezzlement of Tk34.89 crore through allocation of illegally constructed shops at Phulbaria Supermarket-2 in the capital.

Delwar Hossain, president of Shop Owners Association of Phulbariamarket, filed the case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court of Dhaka on Tuesday.

Metropolitan magistrate Asheq Imam recorded the deposition of the plaintiff and set 30 December to deliver its order on acceptance of the case.

The six other accused are former Chief Revenue Officer of DSCC Yusuf Ali Sardar, and former Deputy Assistant Engineers Majeed, Kamrul Hasan, Helena Akhter, Atiqur Rahman and Md Walid Hossen.

According to the case statement, former DSCC mayor Sayeed Khokon and the other accused individuals constructed shops in Fulbaria City Super Market in violation of design specifications and announced allocation of those shops to various businessmen.

After Delwarexpressed his opposition against the allocation of illegally constructed shops, he alleged that accused Yusuf Ali Sardar, Atiqur Rahman Swapan and Walid summoned him to Banani on 20 August 2016 and threatened him.

However, he did not dare to file a general diary against them, fearing for himself and his family.

Small businessmen subsequently sought his advice and after extensive discussions, Delwar said they deposited money to an account of Uttara Bank's Phulbaria branch.

The small traders deposited Tk34.89 crore to the account of the erstwhile DSCC mayor Sayeed Khokon, who promised to allocate shops in the market's A, B and C blocks, he added.

However, DSCC recently conducted an eviction drive and demolished around 300 shops in the market.