A Dhaka court on Thursday deferred the indictment hearing against casino kingpin and expelled Jubo League leader Ismail Chowdhury Samrat in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Dhaka Special Judge 6 court set April 13 for the indictment hearing as Samrat could not be produced in court on account of being ill, his counsel Ehsanul Haque Samazi told Bangla Tribune.
Earlier on March 22, a senior special judge's court scheduled the indictment hearing after accepting the charge-sheet submitted by the graft watchdog.
Samrat stands accused of amassing illegal wealth worth Tk2.94 crore, according to the ACC.
On December 7, 2020, ACC Deputy Director Jahangir Alam, also the investigating officer in the case, submitted the charge sheet against Samrat with the Dhaka Senior Special Judge court.
On November 12, 2019, the graft watchdog filed a case against Samrat with the Integrated District office-1 of Dhaka for amassing illegal wealth worth Tk 2.94 crore.
According to an ACC report, the commission also found that Samrat had accumulated illegal wealth abroad worth Tk1,000 crore.
The commission is trying to find more information on his wealth which is still undisclosed.
On November 24, last year, Kashimpur Jail authorities admitted the former Jubo League leader to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College Hospital in Gazipur.
He was later transferred to the BSMMU ICU. The anti-graft body has been questioning Samrat at the hospital.
On October 6, 2019, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Samrat, the former president of Dhaka South Jubo League, and his close aide Arman, the former vice-president of the same unit following a country-wide crackdown on illegal casinos.
RAB raided Samrat’s political office in Kakrail, where he had reportedly been staying since the crackdown began on September 18.
Before his arrest, the government imposed a travel ban against him on September 24, 2019.
The elite police unit conducted drives at several establishments where Samrat had either lived or carried out political and business activities.
A RAB mobile court, led by Executive Magistrate Sarwer Alam, sentenced Samrat to six months’ imprisonment for possessing wild animal hides, and another six months for possessing illegal liquor.
RAB filed two cases against Samrat with Ramna police station the day after the arrest.