A Dhaka court yesterday recorded the argument of the prosecution lawyer in the radar purchase graft case filed against Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad and three others.
Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah recorded the partial argument of prosecution counsel Mir Ahmed Ali Salam in the case.
The court also fixed July 13 for recording the rest of the argument in the graft case.
HM Ershad, also the special envoy to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, did not appear before the court but his counsel was present on his behalf.
On April 24, 2014, the court completed recording of depositions made by the prosecution witnesses in the graft case. The court has so far recorded depositions of 12 out of 38 witnesses.
Assistant superintendent of the then Anti-Corruption Bureau Md Ali Haider filed the case with Cantonment police station against five accused on April 4, 1992.
HM Ershad, former chief of air staff air vice-marshal (retd) Sultan Mahmud, former chief of air staff Momtaj Uddin Ahmed, Shazad Ali and AKM Musa, the directors of the United Traders had been made accused in the case.
AKM Musa has been absconding since the beginning of the trial while Shazad Ali was dropped from the charge-sheet and others including HM Ershad are on bail in the case.
Manjur Ahmed and Abdus Sattar Sarker, investigation officers of the case, submitted the charge-sheet against HM Ershad and three others on October 27, 1994, and the court framed charges against them on August 12, 1995.
The complainant alleged that Ershad, in collusion with other accused, purchased radars for Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) from the US instead of France, thereby causing a loss of Tk64.04 crore to the state exchequer.
