A Dhaka court on Monday sentenced 11 people including expelled Awami League (AL) leaders Enamul Haque Enu and his brother Rupon Bhuiyan to seven years' imprisonment in a money laundering case.
The other convicts are- their three brothers Shahidul Haque Bhuiyan, Rashidul Haque Bhuiyan and Merajul Haque Bhuiyan, Joy Gopal Sarkar, Tuhin Munshi, Nabir Hossain Sikder, Saiful Islam, Sunny Mostafa and Pavel Rahman.
Also read: HC rejects bail petitions of ex-AL leaders Enu, Rupon
Special Court-5 Judge Iqbal Hossain delivered the judgment.
The court also fined the convicts Tk 4 lakh each, in default, to suffer another year of imprisonment.
Among the convicts, Shiplu, Rashedul, Sahidul and Pavel are on the run since the beginning of the case while Tuhin secured bail. The other six convicts are in jail now.
Earlier, the court fixed April 6 for delivering the judgment. However, the judgment was not delivered on that day as Judge Iqbal Hossain was on leave. Later, Acting Judge Monir Kamal fixed April 25 for the pronouncing the judgment .
According to police, Enamul was the director of Dhaka Wanderers Club and vice-president of the Awami League's Gendaria unit, while his brother Rupom was the joint general secretary for the same area. They were expelled after the incident.
Both were involved in the casino business at Wanderer’s Club, according to the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab).
According to the case, Rab members conducted an anti-casino drive at the house of Abul Kalam Azad, an employee of Wanderers Club, on Lalmohan Saha Street in Wari and seized Tk 2 crore on September 24 in 2019.
Ziaul Hasan, police inspector (City & Vehicle) of Rab-3, filed a case at Wari police station in this regard on September 25 of the year.
Also read: Casino crackdown: Enamul, Rupon indicted for money laundering
As per the case, Enamul and Rupon earned billions by operating casinos for a long time. During the anti-casino drive, they kept illegally earned money in Kalam's house to cover up their misdeeds which is a crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
After the investigation on July 11 in 2020, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Inspector Mohammad Sadek Ali submitted the chargesheet against 11 accused.
Later on January 5 in 2021, the court framed charges against the accused.