Staff Reporter:
Three officials of a private bank testified in court on Monday against BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman in a graft case filed against them for acquiring wealth beyond their known sources of income and concealing information in their affidavits.
Before the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md. Asaduzzaman on Monday, former assistant vice president of AB Bank’s Karwanbazar branch SM Musa Karim, senior official Obaidur Ra-shid Khan and official Imran Ahmed of the same branch testified.
After their testimony, the court fixed Tuesday as the next date of hearing.
So far, six of the 56 witnesses in the case have testified. However, none of the witnesses have to face cross-examination as the accused are absconding.
The trial began on May 21 with the statement of ACC Deputy Director Zahirul Huda.
On May 25, Emran Ali Shikder of Kawkhali in Pirojpur and Syed Azad Iqbal of Lohagara in Narail testified.
Earlier, on April 13, a Dhaka court framed charges against Tarique Rahman and Zubaida in the graft case.
On November 01, 2022, a Dhaka court issued arrest warrants for Tarique and Zubaida in the graft case.
The court also ordered to give notice in the newspaper to appear before the court on January 19.
On June 26, the High Court ordered the judicial court to dispose of the case as soon as possible.
On September 26, 2007, the ACC lodged a complaint with Kafrul police against Tarique Rahman, Zubaida and her mother Iqbal Mand Banu for amassing illegal wealth worth Tk 4.81 crore and conceal-ing the information.
In the same year, the High Court issued a rule suspending the trial proceedings in the case after hearing a petition filed by Zubaida.
In 2008, a charge sheet was filed against three people.
The HC rejected the rule in 2017 and asked her to surrender before the court within eight weeks.
