BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, her daughter-in-law and two granddaughters have been made defendants in a case filed against the directors of Dandy Dyeing Ltd for defaulting on a loan of Tk45.49 crore.
Judge (acting) Ruksana Parvin Happy of Dhaka Artha Rin Adalat 1 (money loan court) passed the order yesterday after granting a petition by Sonali Bank that sought inclusion of the four names as inheritors of late Arafat Rahman Koko.
The court also fixed April 12 for framing charges against Khaleda, her late son Koko’s widow Sharmila Rahman and Koko’s two daughters — Jahiya Rahman and Jafiya Rahman.
Following Koko’s death in Malaysia on January 24, Sonali Bank’s Senior Executive Officer Nazrul Islam filed the petition before the court on March 8 as per order 22 and rule 4 of Code of Civil Procedure (CPC).
The other defendants in the case are Dandy Dyeing Directors Tarique Rahman – Khaleda’s eldest son; Giasuddin Al Mamun and his wife Shahina Begum; Nasrin Iskander – wife of Khaleda’s brother late Sayeed Iskander – and their sons Shams Iskander and Shafin Iskander and daughter Sumaiya Iskander; Gazi Galib Abdus Sattar, Shamsun Nahar and Masud Hassan.
According to the case statement, the defendants on February 24, 1993, applied to Sonali Bank for a Tk13.14 crore loan in favour of Dandy Dyeing. On May 9, the same year, the bank approved the loan.
The governing body of the bank on October 16, 2001 waived the loan interests following an application by the defendants, and later the loan was rescheduled.
On October 2, 2012, Sonali Bank filed the case as the defendants failed to repay the loan, though the bank issued a final notice on February 28, 2010, asking them to repay the loan.
BNP chief Khaleda Zia is currently facing 12 cases — five over corruption and seven for masterminding violence during the ongoing blockade enforced by BNP-led alliance.
Dhaka Special Judge Court 3 recently issued warrants for arrest of the BNP chief in Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases.