BNP Leader Aman lands in jail in a 2007 graft case

A Dhaka court on Sunday sent Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Aman Ullah Aman to jail in a corruption case that dates back to 2007.

Judge Abul Kashem of Dhaka Special Judge's Court-1 passed the order after rejecting his bail plea in the lawsuit filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission. 

"The court, however, directed jail authorities to provide first-class division as per the jail code and to provide proper treatment either at Dhaka Medical College Hospital or Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University," Aman's Lawyer Syed Nazrul Islam said.

The ACC filed a case with the city's Kafrul police station against Aman Ullah Aman and his wife Sabera Aman on 6 March 2007. A court sentenced Aman to 13 years imprisonment and his wife to three years in jail in the case on 21 June of that year. Later, they filed an appeal challenging the lower court order.

After re-hearing the petition, the High Court on 30 May this year upheld the lower court order that had sentenced Aman to 13 years in jail and his wife to three years. It also asked them to surrender before the court within 15 days of receiving the text of the verdict.

In a separate legal development, a Dhaka court on Sunday indicted 28 BNP leaders, including its standing committee members Selima Rahman, Aman, and its chairperson's special assistant Shamsur Rahman Bishwas in a case filed under the Explosives Act in 2015. With this development, the trial of the aforesaid leaders of the opposition party has begun. 

Judge Asif Iqbal of Dhaka Special Tribunal-6 set a date for depositions of witnesses in the case after rejecting the plea for acquittal from the accused BNP leaders, as stated by BNP leaders' counsel Masud Ahmed Talukder. 

The indicted BNP leaders include Azizul Bari Helal, Mir Sarafat Ali Safu, Shirin Sultana, Habib-un-Nabi Sohel, Barkat Ullah Bulu, and Shawkat Mahmud. 

On 17 March 2015, at least six pedestrians sustained injuries due to cocktail explosions in Mugda's Zero Point area amid BNP's non-stop hartal and blockade. A Sub Inspector of Mugda police station subsequently filed a case related to this incident.

Mugda police station Sub Inspector Saiful Islam Chowdhury submitted the charge sheet in the court on 23 August 2017, accusing the BNP leaders and activists.