Apan Jewellers owner Dildar Ahmed secures bail in one case, remains behind bars

The High Court has granted bail to three owners of jewellery brand Apan Jewellers, in one of the five cases filed by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate or CIID.

Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim delivered the verdict on Thursday after disposing of a rule.

The court adjourned hearings on bail petitions in two other cases for a month. Dildar Ahmed will still have to remain behind bars.

He is the father of Shafat Ahmed, who has been arrested on charges of raping two university girls at a hotel in Banani.

Dildar and his brothers, Gulzar Ahmed and Azad Ahmed, are accused in five cases over money laundering and other charges filed with Gulshan, Dhanmondi, Ramna and Uttara police stations.

Gulzar and Azad prosecuted in two cases filed with Gulshan police can now be released, said Deputy Attorney General Farhad Ahmed who represented the state during Thursday’s hearing.

Dildar stands accused in three cases filed with Dhanmondi, Ramna and Uttara police stations. The High Court granted him bail in the case filed with Ramna police.

The state will move the Appellate Division against the High Court’s order granting bail to the three brothers, Farhad told bdnews24.com.

The CIID opened an inquiry into the allegation of “illegal transactions” against the Apan Jewellers owners, a few days into the arrest of Dildar’s son Shafat and his friends in May.

It confiscated 15.3 maunds of gold and 7,369 pieces of diamond jewellery from different outlets of the brand and sent them to the Bangladesh Bank later that month.

The customs filed five cases against the three brothers on Aug 12 upon completion of its investigation.

On Aug 22, Dildar and his brothers secured ad-interim bail for four weeks from the High Court.

The court issued arrest warrants against them on Oct 23 for not appearing in a hearing. Three of them were sent to jail after they surrendered before the court.

On Nov 22, the court heard their bail petitions and issued a rule asking why they should not be granted bail. It disposed of the rule on Thursday.