A Dhaka court on Sunday acquitted BNP senior leader Gayeshwar Chandra Roy in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) amassing wealth beyond known source of income.
Judge of the Dhaka Special Judge Court-3 Quamrul Hasan Khan passed the order.
SM Mafidul Islam, deputy director of ACC filed the case with Ramna Police Station on January 5, 2009 - just days after the deposed Awami League regime won the first of three successive elections.
According to the prosecution, Gayeshwar showed two houses in his wealth declaration — a six-storey building in Rayerbazar, Dhaka with a stated construction cost of Tk 40.80 lakh and another house built on inherited land in Keraniganj with a reported cost of Tk 15.04 lakh.
However, the ACC found the total construction cost to be Tk 25,36,505 (Tk 25 lakh-plus) more than what was reported, based on assessments from the Public Works Department, identifying it as illegal wealth.
Besides, electronic appliances worth Tk 58,600 were found at Gayeshwar’s residence, which were not declared in his asset statement and were deemed to be beyond his known sources of income.
Besides, during 2004–2005, as a ruling party leader, Gayeshwar allegedly took Tk 2.61 crore from Abdul Monem Ltd and Reza Construction abusing his power — an amount the ACC claims was illegally acquired.
The total amount of his alleged illegal assets, including house construction, electronic goods and money obtained through misuse of power, stands at Tk 2.86 crore.
ACC submitted the charge sheet against Gayeshwar on July 5, 2009.