Staff Reporter :
The High Court on Wednesday observed that the government has to bring the people, who are involved in looting money from banks, to book.
The High Court Bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Mohammad Ali passed the observation while hearing a bail petition filed by five people, including a woman, from Kurigram in a case filed on charge of embezzlement of bank money.
The court said, “Catch those who looted the banks’ money.” It seems from the documents that low-income people, who sought bail, have been trapped in the case, also observed the court.
Ending the hearing the High Court Bench granted bail to the five accused petitioners for one year in the case.
Lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir appeared in the hearing on behalf of the accused as a pro bono lawyer, while Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Amit Das Gupta represented the state.
DAG Amit Das Gupta opposed the bail petition, saying that the embezzlement case is under investigation.
The accused are— Ranjit Kumar Roy, Provas Chandra Roy, Kamol Chandra Roy and Fulmoni Rani of Naodabos village under Fulbari Police Station in Kurigram and Nikhil Chandra Barman of Angaria village under Bhuruingamari Police Station of the same district.
Lawyer Shishir Manir told the HC that his clients are very poor and innocent. A gang of organised criminals sent money to their bank accounts to misappropriate it, he said.
The people from disadvantaged backgrounds were implicated in the “false” case and they are victims of circumstance, he added.
Shishir Manir said that there is no legal bar to his clients getting released from jail following the HC order of bail.
Mohammad Rezaul Hoque, Manager of Sonali Bank Limited Shreepur Headquarters branch in Gazipur, lodged the case with Shreepur Police Station against nine persons, including the five accused of Kurigram, on July 1 this year.
In the case, it has been said the accused have embezzled a government fund amounting to Tk 2.46 crore through five bank accounts. The five accused petitioners were arrested on July 2 in the case.
Lawyer Shishir Manir filed the bail petition this week for the accused annexing some newspaper reports regarding the issue. Earlier their bail petition was rejected by a Gazipur Court.
