Police dispel BNP’s remarks on Joy’s $300 million transaction as ‘political remarks’

Police have shrugged off the BNP’s claim that US court documents refer to a ‘suspicious transaction’ of $300 million by Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy, describing it as ‘political remarks’.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) spokesperson Monirul Islam said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul’s comments do not match what detained journalist Shafik Rehman had told them during questioning.

Speaking at a media briefing on Saturday, Mirza Fakhrul said he wondered why the government was not talking about that transaction.

Police in Dhaka initiated a case over a plot to abduct and murder Joy, the prime minister's son and adviser, after a New York court had convicted US BNP leader Mahmud Ullah Mamun’s son Rizvi Ahmed Caesar for bribing a former FBI official to get information on Joy.

Rehman was arrested at his Dhaka home over that case on Apr 16. He is now being interrogated in a second round of remand.

“Shafik Rehman is providing a lot of important information, which are not consistent with what the BNP said in the press briefing.

“We do not know whether his remarks were based on his conversation with Shafik Rehman. But we think that did not happen,” said DMP official Islam.

“It’s you who have reported that he has been questioned within a legal procedure and he is not pressured or tortured.

“He has given all the details during interrogation. And the documents by US Department of Justice and FBI also state why they have been convicted,” said the additional police commissioner.

He concluded that the remarks made by the senior BNP leader were political. “And I will not comment on political statements.”

Shafik Rehman’s lawyers allege that though the police have claimed of finding ‘confidential FBI documents’, they are yet to submit those to court.

“We have confiscated evidence related to the investigations and they will be submitted to the court according to the procedures,” said the DMP official.