Barapukuria graft case: Charge frame hearing on Aug 12

Staff Correspondent: The court hearing on charges against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and 10 others in the Barapukuria coal mine corruption case has been delayed to August 12 following a petition from her lawyers.

Acting Judge Sheikh Nazmul Alam of Dhaka's Special Judge Court 2 has changed the date of hearing from today to August 12 in a response to the petition filed by Khaleda Zia’s lawyer Sanaullah Mia.

Her lawyer applied for a postponement due to an ongoing trial in the High Court involving two accused in this case Altaf Hossain Chowdhury and Barrister Md. Aminul Haque.

Execution of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Matiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed lowered the number of accused from 13 to 11.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) deputy director Shamsul Alam filed the case on February 26, 2008 against Khaleda and 15 others for causing a loss of Tk158.71 crore to the state exchequer by awarding the contract for operation of the Barapukuria mine to a Chinese company between June 2003 and June 2005, abusing power. The charge sheet was pressed on October 5 the same year against the BNP chief and 15 other accused.


risingbd/Dhaka/July 15, 2018/Mamun Khan/AI