Dismissed Officer-in Charge (OC) of Teknaf Police Station, Cox’s Bazar Pradeep Kumar Das has illegally built a mountain of wealth in Chattogram.
He has built a fish farm, luxurious houses, and bought a car, huge amount of agricultural and non-agricultural land in the name of his wife Chumki.
He has kept a huge amount of money in the bank and his wife is accused of money laundering abroad. This information came out in the investigation of the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC).
OC Pradeep is the main accused in the murder case of Major Sinha Rashed Khan.
According to the court sources, OC Pradeep Kumar Das and his wife, have been charged in a case of acquisition of illegal wealth from unknown source of income on September 1, 2021.
At the same time, the court has issued arrest warrant against fugitive Pradeep's wife Chumki and confiscated her property.
Chittagong Senior Special Judge-1 Sheikh Mohammad Ashfaqur Rahman passed the order after hearing the admissibility of the charge sheet.
ACC prosecutor Mahmudul Haque told that the charge sheet had been submitted to the court. After the hearing, the court gave directive to start the judicial process. The court also issued an arrest warrant against Chumki.
``In the case, Pradeep and his wife were accused of acquiring huge illegal wealth worth around Tk 4 core’’ he added.
According to the concerned sources, Pradeep and his wife own a residential building at Patharghata on RC Church Road, Kotwali Police Station, Chottogram.
Pradeep's wife lived with the children in that building. However, his wife has been absconding since the ACC started searching for Pradeep's assets.
In the statement of accounts submitted to the ACC, Pradeep did not mention that he had land or house in his own name.
In the document, he shows his income from salaries and allowances while he served in peacekeeping missions abroad and interest from GPF.
Apart from the assets shown to the ACC, Pradeep Das owns a flat in Lalkhan Bazar area, Chattogram, two hotels in Cox's Bazar, land and buildings in different parts of the country.
He also has homes in Agartala and Barasat in Kolkata and Guwahati, India; and Australia. ACC officials have also started inquiring into these matters.
It is learnt that Pradeep had bought more property in the name of his wife Chumki with his illegal income. In Boalkhali, he bought property worth cores of taka in his wife's name.
Although Pradeep Das's wife Chumki is a housewife, she has been shown as a fish farmer in the accounts submitted to the ACC. Chumki, who started with a capital of Tk 13, 50,000, has earned cores of taka every year.
Pradeep bought land, cars and houses in Chattogram city with the profit of fish farming. According to the accounts, Chumki's immovable property includes four hundred acres of land in the Patharghata area of the city at a cost of Tk 86, 76,000.
ACC lawyer Kazi Sanwar Ahmed told that the court denied bail to the accused. We have applied for the seizure of the declared property of the accused and the court has granted it.
``The process has been completed. Now there is no obstacle to confiscate the property,`` he added.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that OC Pradeep Kumar Das's wife Chumki has fled the house since the incident. She has been in hiding from Patharghata’s Lakshi Kunja home of Kotwali Police Station, Chattogram since the case was filed with the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC).
City police official declined to comment. However, it is supposed that she has crossed the border and went to India.
When contacted, Boalkhali Sarowatli Union Chairman Belal Hossain told that there is a fish project in the area in name of Pradeep's wife.