Ex-Rajuk chairman Iqbal, 7 others jailed for 14 years in plot allocation corruption case
The court also fined each convict Tk20 lakh, with an additional year of rigorous imprisonment in default of payment.
A Dhaka court has sentenced eight people, including former Rajuk Chairman Iqbal Uddin Chowdhury, to 14 years in prison each in a corruption case over the allocation of plots in the Purbachal Residential Project.
Judge Md Abdus Salam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-9 delivered the verdict today (13 October), Saiful Islam Mithu, bench assistant of the court, confirmed.
The other convicts are former Rajuk members SD Fayez, AKM Wahedul Islam, SM Zafar Ullah, HM Zahurul Haq and Md Rezaul Karim Torofdar, along with Amber Group Managing Director Shawkat Aziz and Ashfaq Aziz.
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The court also fined each convict Tk20 lakh, with an additional year of rigorous imprisonment in default of payment.
It cancelled the allocation of plots 11 and 13 on Road 405 in Sector 1, which were allocated in the names of Shawkat Aziz and Ashfaq Aziz, and ordered their confiscation by the state.
According to the judgment, the six former Rajuk officials were convicted under Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, and Section 409 of the Penal Code.
Each was sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment under each section, totalling 14 years, and fined Tk10 lakh under each section. They face an additional year of rigorous imprisonment in default of paying the fines.
Shawkat and Ashfaq were also convicted under the same sections and sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment under each, totalling 14 years.
Each was fined Tk10 lakh under each section, with an additional year of rigorous imprisonment in default.
The judgment stated that time already spent in custody would be deducted from the sentences and that the sentences under the two sections would run concurrently.
According to case records, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case on 8 February 2017, alleging that the accused had used their influence to allocate and secure two plots totalling 20 katha in Purbachal, with 10 katha allocated in each of Shawkat Aziz's and Ashfaq Aziz's names.
The case alleged that the accused acted in collusion, causing financial loss to the state. The ACC later submitted a charge sheet following its investigation.
The court subsequently framed charges against the accused and ordered the trial to begin.
During the trial, the state examined nine witnesses. The case was filed by the ACC's then deputy assistant director Silvia Ferdous.
