A court in Chittagong yesterday sentenced four people, including three officials of state-run Agrani Bank Limited, to 20 years in jail on charge of misappropriating Tk1.5 crore from the bank.
The convicted are Abdus Sukkur, Moin Uddin, Tarit Kanti Sen – all former officials from Agrani Bank officials from Chittagong’s Khatunganj branch – and Bibhutibhusan Talukdar, the proprietor of M/S Saikat Traders.
Chittagong District Special Judge Mir Ruhul Amin handed down the verdict after they were found guilty beyond doubt in four cases, said Anti-Corruption Commission’s Public Prosecutor Mesbah Uddin Ahmed.
During the verdict, Bibhutibhusan was present in the court, while the three bank officials have been on the run since filing the cases.
Mesbah said the convicts had embezzled the Tk1.5 crore from Khatunganj Branch in the name of importing sugar from abroad through forgery and misusing power between March 3, 1986 and June 16, 1987.
Former ACC inspector Abu Md Arif Siddique filed four separate cases against the four with Kotwali police station on August 31, 1987.
“The convicts were awarded five years jail in each of the four cases, while the court handed down the verdict after taking deposition of 12 witnesses.
“The court also fined the convicts Tk2,000 each, in default to suffer six more months in jail. The court further ordered to confiscate their properties and deposit the properties’ money with the public exchequer,” said Mesbah Uddin.
