Dhaka – Former RAJUK Chairman Iqbal Uddin Chowdhury and Partex Group Chairman MA Hashem’s son Showkat Aziz Russel landed in the jail after a Dhaka court denied them bail on Thursday in a case filed against them on graft charges brought by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC).The ACC arrested Russell from the capital's Gulshan while Iqbal Uddin Chowdhury was held from Paribagh area of the city. They were produced in the court and their counsels pleaded for bail while the ACC sought a seven-day remand to interrogate Russell.
The court rejected their bail petitions as well as the remand plea, but allowed the investigators to question Russell at the prison gate for two days during the next five working days. On Wednesday, the ACC filed the case against eight persons with the Motijheel Police Station in Dhaka.
Six others are Russell’s brother Ashfaq Aziz Rubel and former RAJUK members SD Foyez, AKM Waheedul Islam, FM Jafrullah, HM Jahirul Haque and Rezaul Karim Tarafdar.
The case documents say, the suspects conspired to allot plots to Partex Group Chairman’s sons Russell and Rubel without considering public interest. Russell is the Chairman and Managing Director of Amber Group, which was formed splitting Partex Group’s business.
He also sits on the board of United Commercial Bank Limited and he is also a Director of Bangladesh Cricket Board.
His brother Rubel is in-charge of several business organisations of Partex Group. He sits on the board of City Bank.
A former housing and public works secretary, Iqbal Uddin Chowdhury served as the Chairman of RAJUK between 2001 and 2004. He was behind bars during the military-backed caretaker regime in a graft case over selling 18 government-owned buildings below market price. – Special Correspondent
