PK Halder put in jail custody for 25 more days

A Kolkata court on Friday sent six people, including erstwhile NRB Global Bank’s former managing director Prashanta Kumar Halder alias PK Halder, to jail custody for 25 more days in a money laundering case.

Judge Jibon Kumar Sadhu of CBI Court no-3 of City Sessions Court in Kolkata passed the order after the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) produced them before the court in the case, according to Bangladeshi and Indian media reports.

The court also fixed August 10 for the next hearing in the case.

“I have been waiting for the charge-sheet for so long; now I got it today. I will comment after seeing the charge-sheet,” PK Halder told Indian journalists on his way from court to jail lockup.

During the hearing, ED lawyer Arijit Chakraborty told the court that a 100-page charge-sheet was submitted before the court and a copy of the charge-sheet have already been provided to the defence lawyers.

The lawyer told the media that so far 41 bank accounts and 18 immovable properties of PK Halder and his associates, including houses and lands, have been confiscated in India. Its market value is approximately Tk 5 crore.

He further said a supplementary charge sheet will be submitted before the court if any new information is found in connection with the case.

Meanwhile, the court allowed a petition which sought a medical check-up of PK Halder. It asked the prison authorities to submit a medical report to the court on August 10.

Besides, the judge also upheld the permission of the ED officials to grill all of the accused including PK Halder in jail custody.

On July 11, ED submitted a charge-sheet with the court against six people, including PK Halder and two agencies, under section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The other accused are PK Halder’s brother Pranesh Kumar Halder, Swapan Mistry alias Swapan Maitra, Uttam Mistry alias Uttam Maitra, Imam Hossain alias Imon Halder and Amana Sultana alias Sharmi.

PK Halder, the mastermind of a Tk 10, 000 crore banking scam in Bangladesh, fled the country in 2019. He was arrested by the ED along with five other Bangladeshis in Ashoknagar of West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on May 14.

Earlier, the ED told the court that they found wealth worth Tk 300 crore and 88 bank accounts of PK Halder and his associates in India. It also found seven luxurious flats and 40 properties in Malaysia.