Court Correspondent :
The Special Judge’s Court of Dhaka court yesterday (Monday) sentenced “Casino Brothers” Enamul Haque Enu and Rupon Bhuiyan and nine others to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment in the case filed over laundering Tk 2 crore.
Judge Md Iqbal Hossain of the court also fined all of them Tk 4 crore.
The convicts will have to pay the fine in favor of the state within 60 days. In default, they will have to serve one year more in the prison.
Enu, former Vice-President of the Gendaria unit of Awami League, and Rupon, Joint General Secretary of the same unit, were present in the courtroom. Other convicts are- Enu’s three brothers Shahidul Haque Bhuiyan, Rashidul Haque Bhuiyan and Merajul Haque Bhuiyan; General Secretary of Wanderers Club in Motijheel Joy Gopal Sarkar; and their accomplices Tuhin Munshi, Nabir Hossain Sikder, Saiful Islam, Abul Kalam Azad and Pavel Rahman.
Of them, Enu, Rupon, Joy Gopal, Nabir Hossain, Azad and Saiful were earlier arrested in connection with a case filed with Wari Police Station on September 25, 2019 and they are now in the jail.
Tuhin was earlier arrested in the same case and later he was released on bail and Shahidul, Rashidul, Merajul and Pavel are on the run.
In the verdict, the court said the prosecution was able to prove the charges against the accused undoubtedly and the victims were given the highest punishment for committing the offences.
The punishment of the fugitives will be effective from the day of the arrest or surrender of the fugitives.
This was the first time that Enu and Rupon were convicted in a money laundering case. According to the prosecution, it was admitted that the money seized from their possession was earned through casino game and gambling.During the trial, the court recorded the statements of 10 prosecution witnesses, including complainant of the case. The court framed charges against the accused on May 5 last year.
On July 26 of 2020, CID Inspector Sadek Ali, also Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, submitted the charge sheet of the case to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Dhaka against 11 people, including Enu and Rupon.
The IO included names of Rupon and seven others in the charge sheet as their involvement with the laundering of money was found to be true.
Of them, Enu, Rupon, Joy Gopal, Nabir Hossain, Azad and Saiful were earlier arrested in connection with a case filed with Wari Police Station on September 25 of 2019 and they are now in jail custody.
Tuhin was earlier arrested in the same case and later he was released on bail and Shahidul, Rashidul, Merajul and Pavel are on the run. On September 24, 2019, Inspector Md Ziaul Hasab of Rapid Action Battalion 3(RAB-3) filed a case against Enu and Azad.
Twelve other cases were earlier filed against Enu and Rupon over amassing illegal wealth and money laundering charges with different police stations in the capital.
