Corruption
Suranjit APS jailed for 5yrs
A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced Md Omar Faruk Talukder, former assistant personal secretary (APS) to ex- Railways Minister Suranjit Sengupta, to five years in prison in a graft case for acquiring wealth beyond known income sources. Dhakas Special Judge Mohammad Ataur Rahman also fined the accused Tk one crore 23 lakh in the case filed by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC). During the verdict, Faruk was present at the court.
Talking to The Independent, Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya, ACCs Deputy Director, said, the court also ordered to seize an apartment which was bought by Faruk in the capitals Mohammadpur area. If Faruk fails to pay the fine, he will have to stay another two and half years in jail. Defence lawyer Advocate Purnendu Debnath said his client was out on bail, but was taken to jail after the verdict. The former Railway Ministers APS was detained by a team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Dhanmondi area near the entrance of the BGB headquarters on the night of April 9 in 2012 with Tk 70 lakh in his car. Yousuf Ali Mridha, former general manager of Bangladesh Railway and Enamul Haque, former commander of railway police were also in the car. Authorities concerned sacked both of them following the incident. After the incident, Railway Minister Suranjit faced serious criticism from all quarters including his own party and at one stage he was stripped of his ministry portfolio. During the ACC investigation, it was revealed that Faruk acquired assets worth Tk one crore and 30 lakh beyond his known sources of income.
