In three separate corruption cases filed against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 22 others over the alleged misuse of power in securing government plots in RAJUK’s Purbachal New Town Project, four more witnesses have testified.
On Sunday (September 21), Dhaka Special Judge Court-4, presided over by Judge Md. Rabiul Alam, recorded the testimonies of Mohammad Farhaduzzaman, Executive General Manager of Eastern Housing Ltd.; Himel Chandra Das, Assistant Executive Member; Sheikh Shamsher Ali, Operator; and Akhtar Jahan, Administrative Officer at the Ministry of Housing and Public Works. As the accused remain absconding, the witnesses were not cross-examined.
ACC prosecutor Khan Md. Moinul Hasan (Lipon) stated that these four individuals served as witnesses across the three cases. Officials from Eastern Housing testified about Tulip Rizwana Siddiq’s ownership of an apartment in Eastern Housing. The court fixed October 6 as the next date for testimony.
On July 31, the same court framed charges in these cases. One case names 17 accused including Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana, and Tulip Rizwana Siddiq; another names 18 accused including Azmyna Siddiq, Tulip, and Hasina; and the third names 18 accused including Radwan Mujib Siddiq, Tulip, and Hasina. Arrest warrants have been issued since all remain absconding.
In January, the ACC filed six separate cases alleging corruption in the Purbachal plot allocations. The accused include Sheikh Hasina; her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy; daughters Saima Wazed Putul and Azmyna Siddiq; sister Sheikh Rehana; and Rehana’s children, including British MP Tulip Rizwana Siddiq and Radwan Mujib Siddiq, among others.
According to the charges, while in power, Sheikh Hasina and her family abused their authority to obtain six plots of 10 kathas each in Sector 27 of the Purbachal Residential Project, despite being ineligible for the allocations.
