Red notice for Tarique dropped

A Dhaka court has withdrawn a red notice it issued for BNP's Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman in a case over siphoning off money.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 Dec 2013, 11:21 AM
Updated : 9 Dec 2013, 01:38 PM

The order comes in the wake of Tarique's acquittal in the case last month.

A copy of the order had been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said court clerk Ariful Islam, speaking to reporters.

Two copies of the order had also been to Banani and Gulshan police stations through the Deputy Commissioner of the Police’s Prosecution Division, he said.

Judge of the court Motahar Hossain had on 19 Nov acquitted Tarique of the money laundering case.

File Photo

He had ever since been on leave. After the leave, he resumed his office on Tuesday and issued the order to call off the red notice.

Tarique, elder son of Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia, has been living in London since 2008 after securing bail from the Supreme Court on medical grounds.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had filed a case on Oct 26, 2009, accusing him and his business partner and friend Giasuddin Al Mamun of siphoning off Tk 204.1 million to Singapore between 2003 and 2007.

On Aug 8 last year, the court indicted Tarique and Mamun under the Money Laundering Act 2002 and issued an arrest warrant for Tarique.

According to the case details, Mamun had taken Tk 204.1 million as bribes from Khadiza Islam, Director of Nirman Construction Ltd, promising a contract for building an 80MW power plant at Tongi.

Mamun allegedly deposited the money in a Singapore bank, from where Tarique had withdrawn Tk 30.78 million.

A Dhaka court ordered Tarique’s arrest with Interpol's help in May this year.

The trial had begun in July 6, 2010, after the ACC pressed charges against them in court.

Tarique had got acquittal of the money laundering case amid the blockade and shutdown, called by the party-led 18-Party alliance.

The party has been agitating for a non-party caretaker government to oversee the next elections, due on Jan 5.

Tarique’s lawyer Joynal Abedin Mejbah had earlier told bdnews24.com that there had been 16 cases and a general diary against him.

Of them, four were sub-judice. They were Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, two cases over a grenade attack on Aug 21, 2004 and a loan default case filed by Sonali Bank Ltd, he had said.

He has been cleared in two cases, including the money laundering case in Singapore, and a general diary. Proceedings of 10 other cases had been suspended by the High Court, Mejbah had added.