CAAB official gets 5 yrs jail

A Dhaka court on Thursday sentenced a Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh official to five years’ rigorous imprisonment in a bribery case filed over the renewal of a pilot’s licence.

The convict, Rashed Sarkar, a junior licensing inspector at CAAB, was also fined Tk 1 lakh. In default, he will have to serve six more months in jail.

Judge Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun of Dhaka’s Special Judge’s Court-5 delivered the verdict, Public Prosecutor Zahirul Islam confirmed.

According to the case statement, Rashed demanded Tk 1 lakh from the complainant in exchange for allowing him to sit for the Composite examination, a requirement related to pilot licensing and licence renewal.

After the complainant handed over the money, officials of the Anti-Corruption Commission challenged Rashed immediately. He admitted to accepting the bribe and was arrested at the scene.

The court ordered that the Tk 1 lakh recovered as the bribe be returned to the complainant.
It also ordered the confiscation of a mobile phone, laptop, iPad and credit cards recovered from the convicted official in favour of the state.

Rashed, who had been out on bail, appeared before the court before the verdict was announced. After the ruling, the court issued a warrant sending him to prison.

The case was filed on December 6, 2019, by ACC Assistant Director Tahsin Mosabil Haque. Defence lawyers expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict and said they would appeal to the High Court.