Court Correspondent :
A Dhaka court on Tuesday set June 18 as the next hearing in the Gatco graft case filed against BNP Chief Begum Khaleda Zia and others, as she was not produced in the court on Tuesday due to her illness.
Keraniganj jail authority sent a letter to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) hospital asking to produce the BNP Chief in the make shift court set up in the Keraniganj Central Jail for hearing in the Gatco case. But, the hospital authorities said that Khaleda Zia won’t be able to appear in the court due to her illness. As such all kinds of preparations had been taken to shift Khaleda Zia in Keraniganj jail from hospital, after her recovery jail authorities said.
She is now undergoing treatment at BSMMU hospital.
On September 2, 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case with Tejgaon Model Police Station against Khaleda Zia and several others on charges of misappropriating about Tk 1,000 crore, while dealing with Global Agro Trade (Private) Company Limited (Gatco).
On May 13, 2008, the anti-graft watchdog pressed charges against Khaleda Zia and 23 others.
Meanwhile, the names of seven other accused, including Khaleda’s son Arafat Rahman Koko, were dropped from the chargesheet in view of their deaths on different dates.
Khaleda Zia landed in jail on February 8, 2018 after her conviction in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.
Later, she was convicted also in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case with seven-year prison term.
