Sikder Group’s Ron, Dipu file anticipatory bail plea to High Court
Sikder Group Managing Director Ron Haque Sikder and his brother Dipu Haque Sikder filed an anticipatory bail plea to the High Court from Bangkok on Sunday.
On May 28, a case was filed against them with Gulshan Police Station over an alleged attempt to murder by shooting, detaining and torturing Exim Bank MD Mohammad Hayder Ali Mia and additional MD Mohammad Firoz Hossain.
However, on May 29, the two fugitive brothers fled the country in cinematic style after taking permission from agencies of the government.
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The bail application is scheduled for hearing on the virtual High Court bench on Justice Md Ashraful Kamal on Monday, the brothers' lawyer Advocate Syed Ahmed Raja told The Business Standard.
"Ron Haque Sikder and Dipu Haque Sikder want to return to the country. That's why they filed the bail application," he added.
This is the first anticipatory bail plea in the virtual court.
How they managed to escape
Ron and Dipu escaped on the pretext of medical evacuation.
Two recommendations – one from a local medical centre and another from a foreign one – are required prior to obtaining permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) for the use of an air ambulance.
In this case, ZH Sikder Women's Medical College and Hospital, owned by the Sikder Group, recommended emergency health checkups in Thailand for the two brothers. For its part, Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok recommended their admission.
Upon receiving recommendations from the two hospitals, the civil aviation authorities permitted medical evacuation for them through the use of an air ambulance of R&R Aviation Limited, a sister concern of the Sikder Group.
Government agencies, meanwhile, are now pointing fingers at one another over the escape of the two fugitives.
The case
The two brothers – Ron Haque Sikder and Dipu Haque Sikder – came under widespread discussion when the Exim Bank authorities sued them for allegedly trying to kill Exim Bank's Managing Director (MD) Mohammad Haider Ali Mia and Additional MD Mohammad Firoz Hossain by shooting them over issues related to a Tk500 crore loan.
According to the case statement filed with Gulshan police station on May 19, the Sikder Group applied for Tk500 crore sometime ago, and to discuss it, Ron Haque Sikder and National Bank Managing Director Mostak Ahmed went to the head office of Exim Bank on May 7.
They took the MD and the additional MD of Exim Bank to the site of the Sikder Group directors' mortgaged property – Adi Nawab Askari Jute Mills in Rupganj – to inspect it against the loan.
During the visit, the Exim Bank officials found the mortgage value of the property as security to be less than what had been shown in the documents.
Later, Ron asked them to visit another property, Icon Tower in Purbachal.
As the Exim Bank's MD had a scheduled meeting with the Bangladesh Bank on the day, he was in a hurry. Still, the two officials observed the project from outside at Ron's request.
While they were returning, they spotted Ron and the National Bank MD on 300 Feet Road and they stopped their car.
The National Bank MD told the Exim Bank officials that Ron was very upset as they had not visited Icon Tower.
At one stage, Ron shot at the Exim Bank MD. The bullet narrowly missed the MD. When Ron was about to shoot again, the Exim Bank MD took shelter behind the car, according to the case statement.
Later, a security guard forcibly took them, at gunpoint, to Sikder House at Banani, where Ron and his brother allegedly forced the victims to sign a paper agreeing that everything was all right with the project. They compelled the additional MD to affix his signature to the paper as a witness.
