Staff Reporter :
A Dhaka Court on Wednesday granted bail to Kamrul Ashraf Khan Poton, a former lawmaker from the Narsingdi-2 constituency and owner of contracting firm Poton Traders, and four others in connection with a case filed on charge of embezzling 72,000 tons of imported chemical fertilizer.
The other accused are Poton Traders’ General Manager Shahadat Hossain and General Manager (Management) Nazmul Alam Badal, North Bengal representative Md Sohrab Hossain and its Khulna and Noapara representative Md Ataur Rahman.
Judge of the Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court in Dhaka, Faisal Atiq Bin Quader, passed the order, after hearing a bail petition filed by the accused, said Aminul Islam, Assistant Director (prosecution) of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Earlier on the day, the accused surrendered to the court and sought bail in the case.
The ACC filed the case against them on November 26 this year with its integrated office-1 in Dhaka. According to the case documents, the embezzlement took place between November 1 in 2021 and July 30 in 2022.
Poton Traders have misappropriated 72,000 tons of government’s imported chemical fertilizer without carrying those to warehouses after those were released from the port, also read the documents. The government lost Tk 5.82 billion due to the embezzlement.
Embezzlement of the fertilizer by the Poton Traders has come to the light after two investigations conducted by the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), a government body under the Ministry of Industries.
Following a published report, the High Court on January 5, this year directed the ACC and BCIC to conduct enquiry into the allegation of embezzling 72,000 tons of imported chemical fertilizer by Poton Traders. The HC asked the government bodies to submit their reports with it in 60 days.
Lawyer Molla Kismot Habib who appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the BCIC said they have submitted a report to the court complying with its order.
