The High Court has accepted the appeal of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) that was filed challenging suspended Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mizanur Rahman’s acquittal of the money laundering charges.
The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo accepted the appeal following a hearing on Sunday (April 10). The higher court also summoned the documents of the case from the lower court.
The appeal will be heard together with Mizan’s appeal against the sentence in a bribery case.
Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan moved for the ACC’s appeal, while Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik and Assistant Attorney General Anna Khanam Kali represented the state.
Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan said that the lower court had acquitted former DIG Mizanur Rahman of money laundering charges. Later, they appealed to the High Court seeking punishment for the money laundering charge.
ACC director Khandaker Enamul Basir was sentenced to five years in prison and fined Tk 80 lakh under the money laundering law. However, Mizanur Rahman was acquitted under this section.
On April 6, the HC accepted hearing the appeal of former DIG Mizan’s seeking acquittal in a bribery case.
The Special Judge Court-4 of Dhaka on February 23 this year sentenced ACC director Enamul Basir to eight years imprisonment with Tk 80 lakh fine and Mizanur Rahman to three years on the bribery charge.
Read More: Report against DIG Mizan on Aug 29
Enamul Basir was sentenced to three years jail term for bribery and a five-year jail term under money laundering law but he will have to spend five years in prison as the two punishments will be served simultaneously, said the lower court.
DIG Mizan was an additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). He was withdrawn on January 9 in 2019 following the allegation of threatening a female news presenter of a private television channel.
He had also reportedly married a woman forcibly and tortured her. Mizan allegedly abducted the 25-year-old woman in July in 2017 and then forcibly married her.
He had also implicated her in a false case whereby she was arrested and remained in jail for three weeks.
On June 24 in 2019, ACC director Monjur Morshed filed the case against DIG Mizanur Rahman, his wife Sohelia Anar Ratna, nephew sub-inspector Mahmudul Hasan and younger brother Mahbubur Rahman.
According to the case statement, the ACC found that Mizan concealed information about wealth worth Tk 3.7 crore in his wealth statement. The then director of ACC Enamul Basir was made the investigation officer in the case.
During the investigation, DIG Mizanur Rahman accused Enamul Basir of claiming Tk 40 lakh as a bribe for acquitting him from the charges.
Following the allegation, another ACC director Monjur Morshed was made the investigation officer in the case, withdrawing Enamul Basir.
A three-member probe body was formed led by ACC director Sheikh Mohammad Fanafillah to look into the allegation of bribery.
On July 16 in 2019, Sheikh Mohammad Fanafillah filed the case over the bribery scandal against Mizanur Rahman and Enamul Basir.
On April 16 in 2020, a Dhaka court indicted the two and directed the official beginning of the trial in this case.