Regent’s Shahed pleads innocent in arms case
Shahed claims innocence saying that no weapon was recovered from him
Pleading innocence in an arms case filed against him, Regent Hospital Chairman Md Shahed alias Shahed Karim has sought justice from court.
He made the appeal while defending himself at the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Kayes on Wednesday.
When the court asked him if he would plead guilty, Shahed answered in the negative. In his defence, Shahed said, "No weapon was recovered from me. I am completely innocent. I pray to the court for justice."
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The court then set Thursday (September 17) as the day for the state to present its arguments.
Earlier on Tuesday, the prosecution announced that it had completed taking testimonies in the case. The court then set Wednesday to let Shahed defend himself against the deposition of the prosecution witnesses. Eleven out of 14 prosecution witnesses testified before the tribunal on Tuesday.
On July 15, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) detained Shahed from the border area of Satkhira on various charges of fraud during the coronavirus pandemic. Later, he was brought to Dhaka by helicopter.
The court placed Shahed on a 10-day remand the next day in a case filed on charges of various incidents of fraud including faking Covid-19 test reports.
After that, the Detective Branch (DB) of police went to Uttara on a drive taking Shahed with them and seized weapons from there. SM Gaffarul Alam, inspector at the DB, then filed a case against Shahed at Uttara West police station under the Arms Act.
On July 30, Inspector Md Shairul of the DB filed a charge-sheet against Shahed in the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Morshed Al Mamun Bhuiyan.
On August 27, Shahed was indicted by Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Kayes.
