The plaintiff in the Niko graft case against BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and seven others, On Tuesday, completed the submission of his testimony in the case.
Mohammad Mahbubul Alam, then assistant director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), earlier submitted his testimony as first prosecution witness (PW) on May 23. On Tuesday, after the end of his deposition, the defence started cross-examining him.
After the end of today's proceedings, Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka Special Judge's Court-9 at Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj adjourned the hearing till September 17.
Earlier on March 19, 2023, the court framed charges against the accused. Begum Khaleda Zia, who is now on bail, pleaded not guilty through her lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukder on that day and demanded justice.
The other accused in the case are- Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, Khandaker Shahidul Islam, CM Eusuf Hossain, Mir Moinul Haque, Gias Uddin Al Mamun, Selim Bhuiyan and Kashem Sharif.
The anti-graft body filed the case against five, including Begum Khaleda Zia, with Tejgaon police station on December 9, 2007, for abusing power in signing a deal with Canadian company Niko for exploring and extracting gas.
The ACC on May 5, 2008, submitted the charge sheet against 11 people, including Khaleda Zia. The ACC accused them of causing a loss of more than Taka 13,000 crore to the state exchequer by signing that deal.
As the three accused - Barrister Moudud Ahmed, AKM Mosharraf Hossain and Md Shafiur Rahman - died of natural causes, they were discharged from the case, leaving the eight other accused to face the trial.
