A court in Dhaka today imposed a travel ban on 16 individuals, including former chairman of BASIC Bank Limited Sheikh Abdul Hai Bacchu, in connection with an alleged corruption case.
The order was issued by Md Sabbir Faiz, judge of the Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court, after accepting a petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Those barred from leaving the country also include former managing director of BASIC Bank AKM Sazedur Rahman, former managing director and chief executive officer Kazi Fakhrul Islam, deputy managing director Fazlus Sobhan, and former general manager and company secretary Shah Alam Bhuiyan.
Former directors Jahangir Akhand Selim, Fakhrul Islam, Subhasish Bose, Nilufar Ahmed and Dr Kazi Akhtar Hossain have also been included in the order.
Others facing the restriction are Anwarul Islam, former Gulshan branch manager Sipar Ahmed, managing director of Tahmina Denim Limited Yasir Ahmed Khan, its chairman Kamal Zaman Molla, director Kazi Rizwana Mominul Haque, and chief surveyor Jasim Uddin Chowdhury.
According to the ACC petition, the accused allegedly colluded with one another and abused their authority to commit criminal breach of trust, embezzling Tk 8.40 crore from the Gulshan branch of BASIC Bank for personal gain.
A case was filed over the allegations, and after completing the initial probe, investigators submitted a charge sheet on June 12, 2023.
Later, the Anti-Corruption Commission received the case back from the Special Judge Court-1 with instructions for further investigation along with several observations.
The investigation is currently ongoing. During the probe, the ACC reportedly received confidential information that some of the accused named in the first information report and those identified during the investigation were attempting to leave the country.
Investigators said their departure could hinder the proper investigation of the case, prompting the request for a travel ban.
Source: UNB
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
