A Dhaka virtual court has placed expelled Jubo League leader Khalid Mahmud Bhuiyan, also known as Casino Khalid, on a three-day remand in a money laundering case.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ziaur Rahman passed the order on Tuesday.
CID Sub-Inspector Rashedur Rahman, who is the investigation officer in the case, pleaded for a 7-day remand for interrogating Khalid in the case. The court agreed to a three-day remand.
Earlier in the day, Khalid was shown arrested in the case. During the hearing, Khalid was produced before the court through videoconference from Kashimpur High Security Jail in Gazipur.
The magistrate observed the presence of the accused through the videoconference and held a hearing on the remand plea.
Opposing the remand plea, defence counsel submitted a petition seeking cancellation of the remand prayer through an email and took part in the hearing virtually.
The Supreme Court on June 7 cleared legal obstacles and directed all magistrates to hold virtual hearings to hear remand pleas online with the jail authorities concerned.
Before the order, it was a mandatory provision of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) that the accused must be produced in court during hearings on any remand prayer petition.
On June 7, the CID filed the case with Motijheel police station against Khalid and three others on charges of laundering money to the tune of around Tk8.5 crore to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand until December 31 2019.
On February 23, the CID submitted a charge sheet against Khalid and five others in another money laundering case. He was indicted in a drug case on February 26.
RAB arrested Khalid from his Gulshan residence on September 18 last year for running casino operations at a club in Dhaka’s Fakirapool. Police seized one shotgun, two pistols, 57 rounds of shotgun bullets, 53 rounds of pistol bullets and 585 pieces of yaba pills from his residence.
Later, five cases, including a money laundering case, were filed against Khalid with Gulshan and Motijheel police stations. He was remanded several times in these cases.
