Court Correspondent :
Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat, a former Jubo League leader and one of the “casino kingpins” in the capital, yesterday secured ad-interim bail in two cases, including one filed over money laundering.
Yet he could not walk out of the jail, as he is accused in several other cases including a graft case, his lawyer Ehsanul Haque Shomaji told the media.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Tofazzal Hossain granted the bail in the case filed over laundering Tk 195 crore.
Besides, Judge Faisal Atiq Bin Kader of the Metropolitan Special Tribunal-2 of Dhaka granted bail to Samrat, former president of Dhaka South
unit of Jubo League, in an arms case after his lawyer moved the petition on health grounds.
During Sunday’s hearing, lawyer Enamul Haque Shomaji told the two courts that his client had been languishing in jail since October 6, 2019. Moreover, he had been in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) with different ailments, including heart problem for a long time. So, his bail petitions should be granted, the lawyer added.
He further said Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is investigating the money laundering case, is yet to submit probe report before the court although it was filed in September of 2020.
Bail petitions in the corruption and drug case against Samrat will be submitted for hearing tomorrow and April 13 with the seventh Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court and the Special Judge’s Court-6 of Dhaka respectively, said the lawyer.
On October 6, 2019, RAB members arrested Samrat, and his close accomplice Enamul Haque Arman, former Vice-President of the same unit, in Cumilla raiding a house near Indian border with Bangladesh.
He came under the spotlight after RAB busted his illegal casino business in the different sports clubs in the city. He was expelled from the Jubo League following his arrest.
