Court orders seizure of Barkat-Rubel’s 5,706 bighas of land, 55 vehicles

The court has ordered seizing 5,706 bighas of land and 55 vehicles owned by former Faridpur city Awami League general secretary Sajjad Hossain Barkat and his brother Imtiaz Hasan Rubel in the Tk2,000 crore money laundering case.

The court has also directed the freeze of Tk9.88 crore.

The court passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Session Judge KM Imrul Kayes on Thursday, Additional Public Prosecutor of the court Tapash Kumar Pal told reporters.

CID inspector SM Miraj Al Mahmud filed a case against Barkat and Rubel with Kafrul Police Station on 26 June last year on charges of siphoning off Tk2,000 crore.

The two brothers have accumulated huge illegal assets by controlling the work of various government departments, including the Local Government Engineering Department, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, the Roads and Highways Department in Faridpur between 2010 and 2020, according to the case statement.

In addition, they have amassed illegal wealth through drug peddling and land grabbing. They have become the owner of 23 buses, trucks and SUVs. A significant amount of money has been smuggled abroad through hundi. Besides, the two brothers were accused of the murder of a lawyer on 20 November 1994 in Rajbari.

The statement further reads Miraj Al Mahmoud was appointed as the investigating officer in this regard on 18 June last year. Preliminary investigation revealed that the two brothers had smuggled at least Tk2,000 crore abroad.