IDRA officer Motaleb gets 5-year jail in bribery case
The court has also fined him Tk50,000 and in default, he will have to serve another one month in jail
An officer of Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) has been awarded a five-year jail term by a Dhaka court for taking a bribe of Tk1.5 lakh from an insurance company.
Mohammad Abdul Motaleb, the suspended junior officer of IDRA, is the son of Gias Uddin of Bhuighar under Fatullah Police Station in Narayanganj.
Dhaka Special Judge's Court-9 Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman pronounced the verdict on Tuesday.
The court also fined him Tk50,000 in absentia and in default, he will have to serve another one month in jail.
As the convict is on the run, the court issued an arrest warrant against him.
According to the case statement, a team of IDRA led by Motaleb found some irregularities during an inspection at Reliance Insurance Limited's Bijoyanagar branch on 21 July, 2013.
At that time, he demanded a bribe of Tk2.5 lakh from Mohsin Hossain, manager of the branch, and threatened to inform the authorities about the irregularities if he did not pay the money.
After a discussion between them, the bribe was settled at Tk1.5 lakh.
Later, Mohsin informed the matter to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The ACC then set a trap. As per the plan, Mohsin, along with the bribe money, reached the designated place at Hotel Purbani on 5 August of that year.
Motaleb was detained red-handed there.
ACC Assistant Director Fazlul Haque filed a case with Motijheel Police Station on the same day.
After investigating the case, ACC Deputy Assistant Director Abdul Quader Bhuiyan submitted the chargesheet to the court on 16 March, 2014.
