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A Dhaka court has acquitted Erfan Selim, son of Dhaka 7 MP Haji Selim, in an arms case.
Dhaka Special Tribunal No. 1 Judge KM Imrul Qayes issued an order relieving Erfan of the charges on Thursday after receiving the final report by the police.
“The state raised no objections to the final report and the court has issued its order today, accepting the report,” Erfan’s lawyer Shri Prannath told bdnews24.com.
Inspector Muhammad Delwar Hossain of Chawk Bazar Police Station submitted the final report on two cases of arms and drugs against Erfan on Jan 5.
Police recommended Erfan’s acquittal in the report, mentioning the case dossier carried factual errors.
Erfan’s bodyguard Jahidul Molla was named in the charge sheet on two other cases of arms and drugs after proofs were found against him.
Erfan used to be the councillor of Ward No. 30 in Dhaka South City Corporation. The Local Government Division suspended him temporarily after he was arrested.
In the case dossier and confiscation list, the plaintiff mentioned the arms recovery from Erfan’s bedroom, the final report said. The police investigation, proofs and witnesses, however, made it evident that the room was a guestroom in the house.
“Erfan Selim belongs to a political family and many people, including guests, political leaders and activists used to visit him in that room. He studied abroad for a long time and completed BBA in Canada in 2014.”
“Some people left the ‘confiscated pistol’ in the guestroom in Erfan’s house out of ill intention to defame him socially and sabotage his political career. No proof was found supporting the claim that Erfan participated in any violence in the neighbourhood or carried illegal arms.”
“The crime committed by Erfan Selim mentioned in the case has not been proved,” the investigation officer said.
On Oct 24, 2020, Lt Md Wasif Ahmed Khan, a naval officer, accused Erfan and his associates of assaulting him in a case filed with the Dhanmondi police.
RAB subsequently raided Irfan's home in his father's nine-storey residential building in Soarighat's Devdas Lane. They seized a pistol, an airgun, bottles of liquor, 37 walkie-talkies and a handcuff during the raid.
"The firearms are unlicensed. The walkie-talkies are illegal as well since only law enforcers are allowed to use these black wireless devices," RAB's Executive Magistrate Sarwoer Alam had said after the raid.
A RAB mobile court sentenced Erfan and his bodyguard Mohammed Jahid to a year in jail for the unlawful possession of walkie-talkies and liquor.
It also uncovered a room on the top floor of a multi-storey building in Old Dhaka's Chawkbazar, which Erfan allegedly used as a ‘torture cell’.
Later, Erfan Selim was sent to jail and separate cases were filed under the arms and narcotics acts.
Following the RAB raid, the media was flooded with the news of Haji Selim’s ‘power play’. The Anti-Corruption Commission also said it began to investigate against the ‘illegally accumulated wealth’ owned by Haji Selim.
The case dossier of the RAB case filed against Erfan and his bodyguard said that the raid on Erfan’s house in Old Dhaka was based on detective information. Jahidul Molla was arrested from the third floor of the building carrying a foreign pistol and 406 yaba pills.
Another foreign pistol was recovered from a different room while 12 cans of liquor were recovered from Erfan’s room.
Police, on the other hand, said in the report that they never got enough evidence the arms and liquors belonged to Erfan Selim.
Charges were submitted against Jahid Molla as he was found carrying a pistol and yaba pills.
Though police recommended Erfan’s acquittal in the arms and drug cases, they submitted the charges against him over the assault of the naval officer.