Court rejects bail after he surrenders against 14-year prison sentence.
Showkat Aziz Russell. File Photo: Collected
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Showkat Aziz Russell. File Photo: Collected
A Dhaka court has sent Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) President Showkat Aziz Russell to jail after rejecting his bail application in a corruption case over plot allocation in the Purbachal residential project.
Russell surrendered before Dhaka Special Judge Court-9 today (1 November), seeking bail pending an appeal against his 14-year prison sentence.
Judge Md Abdus Salam rejected the application and ordered him to be sent to jail; Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) prosecutor Khandaker Shamim Hossain confirmed the development to The Business Standard.
He said Russell’s lawyers had sought bail on the condition that he would appeal against the verdict. They also requested division facilities for him in prison, but the court rejected the bail plea.
On 13 October, the same court sentenced Russell and seven others to 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment each in the case. It also imposed fines on all eight convicts.
The other convicts are former Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) chairman Iqbal Uddin Chowdhury, former members SD Faiz and AKM Wahedul Islam, former officials SM Zafar Ullah, HM Jahurul Haque and Md Rezaul Karim Tarfder, and Russell’s brother Ashfaq Aziz Rubel.
In its verdict, the court found Russell and Ashfaq guilty under Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, and Section 409 of the Penal Code.
They were each sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment under each section, bringing their total sentences to 14 years. The court also fined them Tk20 lakh each, with an additional year in prison in default of payment.
The six former RAJUK officials were also sentenced to 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment each and fined Tk20 lakh apiece, with an additional year in prison if they fail to pay.
The court ordered that the sentences under the two sections would run concurrently and that time already spent in custody would be deducted from the terms.
The court also cancelled the allocations of two plots in Sector 1, Road 405 – Plot Nos 011 and 013 – allotted in the names of Russell and Ashfaq, and ordered their confiscation in favour of the state.
The ACC filed the case on 8 February 2017, alleging that the accused had colluded and used their influence to secure two 10-katha plots, totalling 20 kathas, in Purbachal for Russell and Ashfaq, causing losses to the state.
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