Court Correspondent :
A Dhaka court on Wednesday sent Kamrul Ashraf Khan (Poton), former lawmaker and owner of Poton Traders and four others to jail canceling their ad-interim bail in a graft case.
The case was filed against them on November 26 of last year on the charges of misappropriating 72,000 tons of government-imported urea fertilizer, valued TAKA 582 crore, during transportation.
The other accused are General Manager Shahadat Hossain and General Manager (Management) Nazmul Hossain Badal of M/S Poton Traders, its north bengal representative Md Sohrab Hossain and its Khulna and Noapara units’ representative Md Ataur Rahman.
Judge Mohammad Ash-Shams Joglul Hossain of the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Court of Dhaka passed the order after Ashraf and four others surrendered in the court and sought extension of their ad-interim bail, ACC Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajol said.
During Monday’s hearing, the prosecution said the charges brought against the accused have been primarily found to be true and they should be sent to jail canceling their bail in the case. Moreover, no accused in such a case can stay out of jail, said the prosecution.
While the defense argued in support of granting bail to their clients.
Ten days after filing of the case, Poton and four others on December 6 last year got ad-interim bail from another Dhaka court.
On November 26, ACC Deputy Director Md Rafikuzzaman filed the case against them with the commission’s Dhaka-1 office.
According to the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) investigation report, the corporation had an agreement with Poton Traders to deliver 3.93 lakh tons of urea imported from the Middle East to government warehouses in FY22.
As per rules, fertilizers are supposed to reach the warehouses within 50 days of their release. However, the contractor never delivered 72,000 tons of fertilizer, the report says.
The ACC filed the case after the preliminary investigation following a directive of a High Court Division bench to investigate the alleged embezzlement.
Last May, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation filed a Tk 1,163 crore money recovery suit against Poton Traders for misappropriating 72,000 tons of imported urea fertilizer during transportation.
In June, the High Court also asked the ACC to prove the allegation and submit the probe report to the court within 60 days.
Earlier in July, a high-powered probe committee formed by the BCIC has found involvement of M/S Poton Traders, a contracting firm in embezzlement of 71,801 tons of imported chemical fertilizer.