Arrest warrant issued against former OC Pradeep's wife Chumki

A Chattogram court has issued an arrest warrant against suspended OC Pradeep's wife, Chumki Khan, who is on the run.

The court also denied Pradeep's bail and took cognisance of the Anti-Corruption Commission's (ACC) charge sheet in a case against him.

Divisional Special Judge Sheikh Ashfaqur Rahman passed the order at noon on Wednesday.

Former officer-in-charge of Teknaf police station Pradeep Kumar Das was taken to court from Chattogram Central Jail at noon under heavy police guard.

In the charge sheet filed in the court on 26 July, Chattogram-2 Assistant Director of the ACC Riaz Uddin accused Pradeep and Chumki of giving false information by concealing assets worth Tk 49,58,957 and illegally acquiring assets worth Tk 2,35,98,417, transferring those to the other.

A total of 29 people have been called as witnesses in the case. However, at the hearing, Pradeep's lawyer Advocate Swabhu Prasad Biswas claimed that Pradeep had nothing to do with the incident.

On 23 August last year, Riaz Uddin filed a case against Pradeep and his wife for amassing Tk4 crore worth of illegal wealth.

Their bank accounts were seized last year upon instruction of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit soon after the murder of retired army major Sinha.

Sinha was shot dead by police at the Baharchhara check-post in Teknaf on 31 July 2020.

His sister Sharmin Shahria Ferdous filed a case for his murder with the Cox's Bazar Judicial Magistrate's Court, against Pradeep and nine others. Soon after, Pradeep took leave from his duty saying he was ill.

For a few days, he lived in hiding in Chattogram. Later, on 6 August he surrendered to a court in Cox's Bazar. Pradeep has been in jail since then.

A Cox's Bazar court on Sunday framed charges against 15 accused, including Pradeep, in the Sinha murder case.