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A Dhaka court sent Prof Shibli Rubayat-Ul Islam, former chairman of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), to jail on Thursday in connection with a corruption case.
The court, however, allowed the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to interrogate the accused at the jail gate for one day within seven days.
Judge of the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court in Dhaka, Md Zakir Hossain, passed the order after hearing petitions filed by the ACC and Shibli. Anti-Corruption Commission Public Prosecutor Mahmud Hossain Jahangir confirmed the court order to the FE.
Earlier on the day, ACC Deputy Director Md Masudur Rahman, also the investigation officer of the case, produced Shibli before the court with a 10-day remand prayer.
In the prayer, IO Masudur said Shibli was involved in amassing and laundering money, so he needs to be remanded to find out vital clues about the allegations.
Defence lawyer Khorshed Alam submitted an application, seeking bail and cancellation of the remand prayer on grounds that their client was implicated falsely in the case just for "harassment".
Upon hearing both the parties, the court passed its order rejecting both remand and bail petitions.
The ACC on Wednesday filed a case against Shibli and five others on charges of receiving approximately Tk 37.6 million in bribes. The five other accused are-Jabed A Matin, chairman of Monarch Holding Inc., Ariful Islam, owner of Jhin Bangla Fabrics, Israt Jahan, first assistant vice president (FAVP) of Mutual Trust Bank, Iqbal Hossain, vice president & operations manager of the same bank and Syed Mahbub Morshed, former branch manager of the bank.
During the hearing, the court asked Shibli whether he would say anything about the charges brought against him. Claiming himself to be innocent, Shibli told the court that the charges are "false, fabricated and vague".
The court observed that the punishment for corruption should be increased. "The punishment of the graft case is minimum. The punishment should be increased for those who are involved with laundering and amassing huge amount of money," said Judge Md Zakir Hossain.
"There should be a provision for confiscating all the moveable and immovable properties before the judgment. There is a loophole in enacting the law that allows corrupt people to launder billions of taka."