Shah Alam sent to jail

A Dhaka court on Sunday sent the Bashundhara Group chairman, Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, also known as Shah Alam, to jail in a tax evasion case in which he was jailed for five years during the emergency regime.
Shah Alam was, however, admitted to United Hospital at Banani immediately after he had landed in jail.
The Dhaka jail superintendent, Tawhidul Islam, told New Age that Shah Alam had landed in the Dhaka central jail about 4:00pm and he was sent to United Hospital about 5:30pm as the court had asked the prison authorities to ensure his proper medical treatment.
Shah Alam will undergo medical treatment in the hospital in jail custody, Tawhidul added.
The judge of special judge’s court 3, Md Kader Newaz, however, granted interim bail to Shah Alam in three other corruption cases — two filed in connection with sales of 18 abandoned houses and another for bribery for diverting a murder case of Bashundhara Group director Humanyun Kabir Sabbir.
The court passed the orders after Shah Alam had surrendered in court and sought bail in the four corruption cases.
Shah Alam went to court in an ambulance of United Hospital and was later taken to Dhaka central jail in the ambulance after the court had rejected his bail prayer in the tax case.
The Anti-Corruption Commission’s chief counsel Anisul Huq and Ahsanul Karim defended Shah Alam in court.
Shah Alam sought bail in the three cases — one filed on charges of giving Tk 21 crore in bribe to former BNP minister Lutfozzaman Babar to drop Alam’s son Sanvir name from the charges of killing Humanyun Kabir Sabbir, a director of the Bashundhara Group, in 2006, and two other cases filed for his involvement in causing a loss of Tk 127.64 crore to the state exchequer by selling 18 abandoned government houses for lower prices.
On Shah Alam’s writ petition, which challenged the legality of three cases, the High Court had stayed all the proceedings in cases which were filed during the state of emergency in 2007 and 2008. Earlier, the special court framed charges against Shah Alam and he was tried in his absence.
A special judge’s court on September 30, 2007 sentenced Shah Alam, in his absence, on charges of evading Tk 8.48 crore income taxes between the financial years 2004 and 2007. He was also fined Tk 8.3 crore, in default to serve one more year in jail.
Special public prosecutor Rafiquddin Bachhu represented the National Board of Revenue. Mosharraf Hossain Kajol represented the Anti-Corruption Commission in the Sabbir murder bribery case and Mir Ahmed Salam represented the commission in the house sales case.