Expelled Jubo League leader Papiya put on 15-day remand

Two Dhaka courts today placed expelled Jubo Mohila League leader Shamima Nur Papiya and her husband Mofizur Rahman Sumon on 15-day remand each in three cases.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Masudur Rahman placed the couple along with their personal aides Sabbir Khondokar, 29, and Sheikh Taiba Nur, 22, on five-day remand each in a case filed under the Special Powers Act, 1974, with Airport Police Station.

On the other hand, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Jasim, placed the Papiya and Sumon on 10-day remand in total in two arms and narcotics cases filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, BSS reports.

Investigation officer (IO) of Special Powers Act case and Airport Police Station inspector Md Kaikobad Kazi in his remand plea said the accused have confessed amassing huge wealth through business of illegal weapons, drug trade, smuggling, trading of fake currencies, extortion, lobbying, land trade and immoral works.

"We need to take them on 10-day remand to interrogate them extensively to discover the source of foreign currencies recovered from them, identify other members of fake currency making gang and its kingpin and conduct raids in this regard," he said.

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-1 arrested Papiya and the three others from Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on February 22. The elite crime busting agency members recovered seven passports, Tk2,12,270, fake note of Tk25,600, USD 11,481, Sri Lankan 420 rupee, Indian 301 rupee and two debit cards from their possessions.

RAB later raided Papiya's Farmgate flats and recovered a foreign-made pistol, two magazines, 20 bullets, five bottles of foreign-made liquor, Tk58,41,000 cash, credit and debit cards of different banks from there.