Staff Reporter :
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed an appeal petition with the High Court seeking cancellation of bail granted to expelled Jubo League leader Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat in a case filed for amassing illegal wealth of Tk 29.4 million.
Lawyer Khurshd Alam Khan, a counsel for the ACC, said the petition might be heard in the High Court Bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo on Tuesday.
Earlier on May 11 this year, Judge of the Special Judge Court-6 of Dhaka, Al Asad Md Asifuzzaman, granted bail to Samrat in the case after hearing a bail petition. Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat was released from jail on May 11 after securing bail in all the four cases filed against him.
Earlier on April 10 and 11 he got bail in three other cases filed against him. And he got bail in the final case on May 11.
On November 12 of 2019, the ACC filed the case against Samrat with its Integrated District office-1 of Dhaka for amassing illegal wealth of Tk 29.4 million.
On December 7 of 2020, ACC Deputy Director Jahangir Alam, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case, submitted the charge sheet against Samrat, a “kingpin” of illegal casino businesses in the capital, to the Senior Special Judge’s Court of Dhaka.
The case was then sent to the Special Judge’s Court-6 of Dhaka for charge framing hearing on March 22 in 2021.
Samrat, the former president of Jubo League’s Dhaka City South unit, came under scrutiny over his alleged ties to the illegal gambling business after the Rapid Action Battalion busted casino operations in numerous clubs in the capital in September 2020.
He subsequently went into hiding before being arrested along with Arman in Cumilla on Oct 6 that year. The RAB later conducted a raid on Samrat’s office in Kakrail’s Bhuiyan Trade Centre with him in tow.
They subsequently recovered a foreign pistol, 1,160 yaba tablets, 19 bottles of foreign liquor, two kangaroo hides and ‘electrical torture equipment’.
A mobile court handed Samrat a six-month prison sentence for possession of the kangaroo skins under the Wild Animal Protection Act and he was later sent to the Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.
Two cases were also filed against him under the Narcotics Control Act and Arms Act with the Ramna Police Station.
