Supreme Court orders Janakantha editor Atiqullah Khan Masud to surrender in fraud case

Bangla daily ‘Janakantha’ Editor Atiqullah Khan Masud has been ordered by the Supreme Court to surrender in a case for fraud involving construction plans.

Masud, the chairman of business group Globe Janakantha Shilpa Paribar (GJSP), has been told to turn himself in to the trial court within seven days.

The Supreme Court’s order came on Monday when it cleared the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to file an appeal against a High Court verdict, which scrapped Mausd’s  conviction for fraud by the trial court.

In 2007, the ACC filed five cases over the fraud in construction plans in collusion with RAJUK employees.

A Dhaka court find Masud guilty in the cases and handed him altogether 35 years in prison as well a fine of Tk 160 million.

On Monday, the ACC was cleared to appeal against the HC verdict in one of these five cases, which scrapped a seven-year jail sentence given to him by the trial court.