A Dhaka court will pronounce its verdict on Monday in an arms case filed against Regent Group Chairman Mohammad Shahed, alias Shahed Karim.
After conclusion of hearing arguments of both sides in the case, Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of Dhaka Special Tribunal 1 on September 20 had settled on September 28 to deliver the judgment.
Public Prosecutor Abdullah Abu, who in his argument had sought the maximum punishment for Shahed, stressed that they had successfully proved the charges brought against Shahed.
But one of the defence lawyers, Md Nazmul Islam, said the prosecution failed to do their job, and hoped Shahed would be acquitted.
Additional Public Prosecutor Taposh Kumar Paul, on Sunday told Dhaka Tribune, that the court is scheduled to deliver the verdict around 2pm, Monday, September 28, 2020.
He said: “We hope the accused, Shahed, will get the maximum punishment in the arms case.”
During the trial process, the tribunal recorded testimonies of 11 out of 14 prosecution witnesses, including the testimony of the plaintiff.
The trial started on August 27 with framing charges against Shahed, who is also accused in over 60 or so other cases in various districts.
Police’s Detective Branch (DB) Inspector, Md Sairul Islam, on July 30 submitted a charge sheet accusing Shahed alone.
Shahed was arrested by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from Satkhira in the early hours of July 15 when he was trying to flee to India on a boat. He was later airlifted to the capital.
Four days later, a DB police team found Shahed’s private car in front of a house in Sector 11 of Uttara West. They seized a pistol with a single bullet round from the car and the case was filed under the Arms Act at Uttara West police station.
Shahed was on the run since health officials and RAB raided the Uttara and Mirpur branches of Regent Hospital on July 6, following complaints that the hospital was issuing fake Covid-19 certificates, as well as charging exorbitant fees for the testing and treatment of patients.
RAB also found evidence of at least 6,000 fake Covid-19 test certificates during the raid.
The next day, RAB filed a case against 17 people, including Shahed, with Uttara West police. Later, 10 other people were also arrested.
