Trial begins of 11 people including former CJ SK Sinha
The formal trial of the case has begun with the formation of charges
A court has indicted 11 people, including former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar (SK) Sinha, in a case of embezzling and smuggling Tk4 crores taken as a loan from Farmers Bank (now Padma Bank).
The formal trial of the case has begun with the formation of charges. Testimony in the case has been fixed for August 18.
Judge Sheikh Nazmul Alam of the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 indicted the accused on Thursday.
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On February 20, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Kayes ordered the case to be transferred to Dhaka Special Judge-4.
On January 5, the court issued arrest warrants against 11 people, including SK Sinha.
The charge sheet was filed at court on December 10 by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) director Benazir Ahmed.
On December 4, the commission approved the chargesheets against 11 people.
The other accused in the case are former MD of Farmers Bank AKM Shamim, former SEVP (Secondary Education Development Programme) Gazi Salahuddin, first vice president Swapan Kumar Roy, first vice president Safiuddin Askari, senior vice president Md Ziauddin Ahmed, vice president Lutful Haque, and residents of Tangail Shahjahan, Niranjan Chandra Saha, Ranjit Chandra Saha and his wife Santri Roy.
The name of one accused has been dropped from the charge sheet after it was proven that he was dead. Mahbubul Haque Chishti (Babul Chishti), former chairman of the audit committee of Farmers Bank, has been made the new accused.
Babul Chishti was arrested and produced in court. Besides, two others accused AKM Shamim and Gazi Salahuddin also appeared in court. On behalf of the three accused present, their lawyers held a hearing seeking acquittal. The other eight accused are absconding.
The case was filed at the ACC's district office in Dhaka on July 10 last year. ACC director Syed Iqbal Hossain is the plaintiff in the case.
According to the complaint, the businessmen Shahjahan and Niranjan allegedly got a loan of Tk4 crore from the Gulshan branch of Farmers Bank. The ACC started investigating allegations that from Ranjit Chandra Saha, the money had been deposited in SK Sinha's account, said to be procured from selling his house.
According to the ACC, it filed a case against Sinha in July last year. The case alleges that loan worth Tk4 crore was withdrawn from the bank by providing fake information, and the money was transferred to SK Sinha's account.
