Court orders freezing of 88 bank accounts of 5 including Barkat, Rubel of Faridpur  

A Dhaka court has ordered the freezing of 88 bank accounts of five people including former Faridpur city Awami League general secretary Sazzad Hossain Barkat and his brother Imtiaz Hasan Rubel, president of Faridpur Press Club, in a case of laundering Tk2,000 crore.

Judge KM Emrul Kayes of the Senior Special Judge's Court in Dhaka passed the order on Thursday in response to an application of the Criminal Investigation Department.

The three other bank account holders are: Barkat's wife Afroz Akter Parvin, Rubel's wife Soheli Imroz Punom and Abdus Sadeq Mukul. 

Tapash Kumar Pal, additional public prosecutor of the court, gave the details to reporters.

CID Assistant Superintendent of Police Uttam Kumar Biswas, also the investigating officer in the case, applied for the freezing of the 88 bank accounts of the five people.

In the application, he said the investigation has found that there are 88 bank accounts in the name of these five people and their organisation.

It was very important to freeze the bank accounts for the interest of a proper investigation of the case, he said in the appeal.

On 26 June, CID filed a case at Kafrul Police Station in the capital against sacked Faridpur city Awami League general secretary Sazzad Hossain Barkat and his brother Imtiaz Hasan Rubel for illegal income and laundering of Tk2,000 crore.

The CID interrogated Rubel and Barkat on a five-day remand in the case. The brothers revealed the names of many others during the interrogation.

District BCL president Nishan Mahmud Shamim was arrested based on Rubel and Barkat's confession and information. Earlier, city Awami League president Nazmul Islam Khandaker Levy and district Sramik League finance secretary Bellal Hossain were arrested in the case.