Khaleda’s Niko graft case: 2 witnesses testify in court

Two witnesses testified in the Niko graft case against BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and seven others on Monday (March 4).

The two witnesses are Miraz Hossain and Abdul Baki.

Of the two, testimony of Miraz ended on Monday. However, testimony of Baki is yet to be finished.

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-9 later adjourned the hearing till April 4.

Khaleda Zia’s lawyer appeared at the court today as she was ill.

The court on March 19, 2023, framed charges against the eight accused.

The other accused in the case are- Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, Khandaker Shahidul Islam, CM Eusuf Hossain, Mir Moinul Haque, Gias Uddin Al Mamun, Selim Bhuiyan and Kashem Sharif.

The anti-graft body filed the case against five including Begum Khaleda Zia with Tejgaon police station on December 9, 2007, for abusing power in signing a deal with Canadian company Niko for exploring and extracting gas.

The ACC on May 5, 2008, submitted the charge-sheet against 11 people including Khaleda Zia. The ACC accused them of causing the incurring a loss of more than Tk 13 thousand crore to state exchequer by signing that deal.

As the three accused-Barrister Moudud Ahmed, AKM Mosharraf Hossain and Md Shafiur Rahman died of natural causes, they were discharged from the case.