The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched a probe against former special court judge Faruk Ahmed on the basis of an allegation of acquitting 11 accused after taking bribes.
The commission at its regular meeting on Tuesday decided to conduct the probe into the bribery allegation against the retired judge, ACC Public Relations Officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya told the Dhaka Tribune.
He said a two-member probe committee led by ACC Deputy Director Joton Kumar, has been formed to investigate the allegation against the judge. ACC Assistant Director Rafiqul Islam is the second member of the team.
According to the allegation received by the ACC recently, the judge acquitted 11 persons – accused in three drug-related cases – allegedly in a hurry in the last three months before he went on retirement earlier this month.
The cases are related to smuggling of heroin worth Tk6 crore and Tk3 crore by some Nigerians – filed with airport and Uttara (west) police stations while another is related to possession of 3,500 Yaba tablets filed with Jatrabari police.
It is alleged that the judge did not give the prosecution time to place the witnesses while he also did not believe the charges in the cases.
Court sources alleged that in the last six months, the judge has acquitted the accused in 12 more sensational cases involving smuggling of narcotics.
