70 freed on fake bail in 5 months
A temporary staff at a Dhaka court sent fake bail orders to Dhaka Central Jail authorities for five months till June to have released at least 70 accused in cases over illegal trade of drugs, and arms and ammunition.
In his confessional statement to a magistrate yesterday, Md Ismail Hossain, an assistant (temporary) at Dhaka Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court, said he did it all on instructions from Sheikh Mohammad Naim, a peon at the court.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Sources said Naim along with Moslehuddin Bhuiyan, a bench assistant at the same court, issued fake bail orders forging the judge's signature, and got released at least 110 accused.
The forgery was detected in early July in an investigation by the court. The probe followed a lawyer's allegations of bail forgery.
On July 12, Obaidul Karim Akando, an official at the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court, filed a case with Kotwali Police Station against the two court staffs over the forgery.
Police later arrested Naim and Moslehuddin.
Yesterday, a team from the Anti-Corruption Commission detained Ismail from the court area around 11:00, said court sources.
Metropolitan Magistrate Waez Kuruni Khan Chowdhury recorded Ismail's statement for over three hours after ACC Deputy Assistant Director Md Safiullah took Ismail to his chamber.
Ismail told the magistrate that Naim had put aside some case documents that were sent to the Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court from the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court for disposal, according court sources.
He said Naim received a huge amount of money from relatives of the accused, who got released through fake bail orders. Naim gave a portion of the money to Moslehuddin, said the sources.
Ismail claimed that he got a small amount of money for sending the fake bail orders to the prison authorities.
According to the sources, of the 110 accused in 76 criminal cases, 14 were released from jail in January, 20 each in February and March, 16 in April and 40 in May through fake bail orders.
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