Ex-Jubo League leader Samrat sent back to jail in ACC case

A Dhaka court has sent Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat, an expelled Jubo League leader who allegedly ran an illegal gambling racket, back to jail 13 days after his release on bail.

He sought bail again after his surrender to the judicial court on Tuesday, following an order issued by the High Court that scrapped his bail in a case over money laundering and illegal wealth accumulation. 

Dhaka Sixth Special Judge Al Asad Md Asifuzzaman set Jun 9 to hear Samrat's bail petition.

Lawyer Ehsanul Haque Shomaji represented Samrat, while lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kazol stood for the Anti-Corruption Commission during the hearing.

Samrat arrived at court in an ambulance from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Medical University around 11:30 am. Hundreds of his supporters gathered at the court premises before he arrived and chanted slogans demanding his release.

On May 11, the same court granted bail to Samrat in the money laundering and illegal wealth accumulation case under three conditions. The Anti-Corruption Commission challenged the decision on May 14, calling for the bail to be scrapped.

The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo scrapped the bail granted to Samrat on May 18 after hearing an appeal filed by the national anti-graft agency. It also ordered Samrat to surrender to the judicial court within a week.

Samrat, the former president of Jubo League’s Dhaka South unit, came under scrutiny over his alleged ties to the illegal gambling business after the Rapid Action Battalion busted casino operations in numerous clubs in the capital in September 2020.

He subsequently went into hiding before being arrested in Cumilla on Oct 6 that year.

The RAB later conducted a raid on Samrat’s office in Kakrail’s Bhuiyan Trade Centre with him in tow.

They subsequently recovered a foreign pistol, 1,160 yaba tablets, 19 bottles of foreign liquor, two kangaroo hides and 'electrical torture equipment.'

A mobile court handed Samrat a six-month prison sentence for possession of the kangaroo skins under the Wild Animal Protection Act and he was later sent to the Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.

Two cases were also filed against him under the Narcotics Control Act and Arms Act with the Ramna Police Station. He was named in a money laundering and illegal wealth accumulation case afterwards.

Among the four cases against him, Samrat secured bail in a possession of arms case and a money laundering case from two separate Dhaka courts on Apr 10. He was granted bail in the narcotics case on Apr 11.

After he secured bail in all cases, Samrat got released on May 12 from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Medical University where he was receiving treatment for one and a half years.

Though he was released, Samrat remained in the hospital as he needed medical treatment, Brig Gen Nazrul Islam, director of BSMMU had said at the time.

The hospital authority had advised Samrat to remain in hospital due to his chronic heart condition.