The mother of expelled Jubo League leader Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat claimed that her son has been framed.
"Samrat is innocent. He is a victim of political conspiracy. My son is not the director of any sporting club, nor involved with any illegal casinos business," 80-year-old Saira Khatun Chowdhury claimed.
Samrat's family organised a press briefing regarding his arrest at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity yesterday, where his sister Farhana Akter Chowdhury Shirin read a written statement out on behalf of her mother.
Addressing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Samrat 's mother said: "As a mother, I request you to forgive my son's faults and mistakes and release him unconditionally. Ensure better treatment to save his life.”
However, none of the family members elaborated the mistakes that Samrat had made.
On October 6, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Samrat, expelled president of Dhaka South Jubo League from the Chauddagram upazila of Comilla over his alleged involvement in an illicit casino business.
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In the written statement, Saira said: “Samrat was arrested on October 6, but the elite force members did not get any arms and liquor from his possession. Later, they conducted a drive at his Kakrail office for around five hours. But, in the live telecast of the raid, we clearly saw the RAB members entering his office with bags, which were not with them when they came out."
In the raid, RAB seized a pistol, 1160 yaba pills, 19 bottles of foreign liquor and two pieces of Kangaroo hide.
“There was no liquor, yaba or pistol in his office. We suspect that it is nothing but a planned drama,” she claimed.
Later, RAB executive magistrate Sarwar Alamfor sentenced Samrat to six-months imprisonment for having the hide in his office. He was then sent to Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.
"Kangaroo is not a Bangladeshi animal… so, it cannot be hunted here. The case cannot be filed under the Wildlife Conservative Act. An expatriate gifted it. He should not be punished [for it],” she said.
Samrat’s family, however, claimed that they have not received any court order regarding his sentence.
When asked about the conspirators, Samrat's brother Russel Ahmed Chowdhury said: "We do not want to name anyone."
On October 7, RAB filed two cases against Samrat with the Ramna police station under the Narcotics and Arms Acts.
