Ex-police inspector gets 2yr sentence for not submitting wealth statement

A Dhaka court today sentenced a former police inspector of Feni district, Md Hamidul Haque, to two years' imprisonment in a case filed against him in absentia, for not submitting his wealth statement to the now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC).

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of the Special Judge Court-9 of Dhaka handed down the sentence in absence of former inspector Hamidul.

The judge also fined him Tk 50,000, in default of which he will have to serve one more month in jail.

The punishment of the fugitive will be effective from the day of his arrest or surrender, the judge added.

According to the prosecution, it was alleged that after getting information about his and his wife's illegal wealth, the BAC on August 1, 2000 served a notice asking Hamidul to submit his wealth statement within 45 days from the day of receipt of the notice.

Hamidul received the notice on February 25, 2001, but he did not submit his wealth statement which was due April 10 the same year.

Later, on April 26, 2001, Abu Bakar Siddique, a police inspector of the now-defunct BAC, filed a case against Hamidul with Tejgaon Police Station in Dhaka.

After an investigation, Md Rakibul Hayat, an assistant deputy director of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and also the investigation officer (IO) of the case, submitted a charge sheet on August 5, 2018.