Muktdesh Desk: The court has sentenced former Dhaka Metropolitan South Jubo League president Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat to life imprisonment for illegally possessing a foreign pistol with bullets.
Judge Md. Ibrahim Mia of the Second Special Tribunal of Dhaka announced the verdict on Tuesday afternoon. Additional Public Prosecutor of the concerned tribunal Md. Abdur Rahim confirmed this information.
The judge announced the verdict in the case in his absence on Tuesday, declaring Samrat a fugitive. After announcing the verdict, the court issued an arrest warrant along with a sentence warrant against him.
According to the case sources, on September 13, 2020, CID Sub-Inspector Rashedur Rahman filed the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act at the Ramna Model Police Station in the capital. The complaint states that Samrat used to conduct illegal activities in various areas including Motijheel, Fakirapul, Paltan, and Kakrail from an establishment called Messrs. His Movies in Kakrail. In this way, he earned a huge amount of illegal money from December 27, 2014 to August 9, 2019. To hide the source of this money, he used to launder money to Singapore and Malaysia through his associate Enamul Haque Arman.
The amount of money laundered is estimated to be Tk 195 crore. Between December 27, 2011 and August 9, 2019, Samrat visited Singapore 35 times, Malaysia three times, Dubai twice, and Hong Kong once. And Enamul Haque Arman traveled to Singapore 23 times between December 12, 2011 and May 18, 2019, the case alleges.
In the early hours of October 6, 2019, Samrat and his associate Enamul Haque Arman were arrested by the RAB from Chauddagram, Comilla. Later, a raid was conducted on his Kakrail office.
During this time, a large amount of foreign liquor, pistols, and rare species of wildlife skins were recovered from inside. The mobile court sentenced him to six months in prison for possessing wild animal skins. The next day, on October 7, DAD Abdul Khalek of RAB-1 filed a case under the Narcotics and Arms Act with Ramna Police Station as the plaintiff.
After the investigation, on November 6, 2020, the investigation officer of the case, Sub-Inspector Shekhar Chandra Mallick of RAB-1, submitted the charge sheet in the arms case to the Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Dhaka. In addition, on December 9 of the same year, the investigation officer of the case, SI Abdul Halim of RAB-1, submitted the charge sheet against Samrat in the drug case. Among them, the trial of the Arms case is underway in the First Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court of Dhaka and the Narcotics Control Act case is underway in the Seventh Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court of Dhaka. In addition, the case filed by the ACC against the accused Samrat for acquiring assets outside the known source of income is pending in the Special Judge’s Court-6 of Dhaka. On November 12, 2019, Deputy Director of the ACC Md. Jahangir Alam filed the case. It alleges illegal acquisition of assets worth Tk 294,80,087.
