POBNEWS24, Dhaka, July 27, 2022 : The eyes of dismissed Officer-in-Charge (OC) Pradeep Kumar Das of Cox’s Bazar’s Teknaf police station and his wife Chumki Karan were filled with tears while reading the judgment of the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). At this time, both of them looked very upset.
Chittagong Divisional Special Judge Court Judge Munsi Abdul Majeed announced the verdict of this case on Wednesday. In the verdict, Pradeep was sentenced to 20 years in prison. His wife Chumki has been sentenced to 21 years in prison.
Pradeep and Chumki were brought to the court under tight security from the Chittagong Central Jail around 11:15 today on the occasion of the pronouncement of the verdict.
On the third floor of the Chittagong court building is the divisional special judge’s courtroom. Pradeep was placed in the dock of the accused in the courtroom. His wife stood outside the court.
At 11:07 a.m. the judge came to the courtroom and started reading the verdict. When the judge started reading the verdict, it was seen that Pradeep and his wife’s eyes were shaking with water. Both were very upset.
After the verdict, Pradeep was taken to a prison van under police guard. While being picked up in the prison van, Pradeep kept saying to the journalists present, ‘I did not commit corruption. I did not commit corruption.’
After 10 minutes Pradeep’s wife Chumki was also taken away. However, he did not speak to reporters. He spoke to the relatives who came to meet him. Some relatives consoled him.
After the verdict was announced, Pradeep’s lawyer Sameer Dasgupta told Prothom Alo, ‘We are not satisfied with this verdict. We will appeal to the High Court after getting a copy of the verdict.’
The case was handled by ACC lawyer Mahmudul Haque. After announcing the verdict, he told Prothom Alo in the court premises, ‘We are satisfied with this verdict. Hopefully, this judgment will be upheld in the high court as well.’
On August 23, 2020, Assistant Director of ACC Chittagong Integrated Office Md. Riaz Uddin became the plaintiff and filed a case against Pradeep and his wife for acquiring huge amount of illegal wealth through corruption. On July 26 last year, the ACC filed a charge sheet against Pradeep and Chumki in the court.
On December 15 last year, the trial of the case began with the filing of a complaint against Pradeep and Chumki. 24 out of 29 witnesses were admitted. After hearing arguments on July 18, the court fixed July 27 for the verdict. According to that, the verdict was given today.
On July 31, 2020, retired Army Major Sinha Md. was shot dead by the police at Baharchhara check post in Teknaf. Rashed Khan In this murder case, two people including Pradeep have been sentenced to death. Six were sentenced to life imprisonment. Cox’s Bazar District and Sessions Judge Court gave this verdict on January 31.
