'Golden Monir' acquitted in arms case

A court in Dhaka has acquitted businessman Monir Hossain, locally known as Golden Monir, in an arms case filed with Badda Police Station in the capital.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court Judge Asaduzzaman acquitted him on February 5 as he was found not guilty.

The court's additional public prosecutor Tapash Kumar Pal confirmed the matter on Thursday.

On November 20, 2020, the Rapid Action Battalion on information conducted a drive at Monir owned six-storey building in DIT Project area of Merul Badda.

During the drive, they arrested Monir and recovered a foreign pistol, a few rounds of bullets, foreign liquor and foreign currencies of about Tk 9 lakh.

The elite force seized eight kgs gold and cash around Tk 1.9 crore from his possession.

They also seized five luxurious cars with no valid documents owned by Monir.

RAB filed two separate cases in this connection under the Arms Act, and the Special Powers Act.

At that time, RAB said Monir was a Hundi trader, gold smuggler and land broker. 

He was a salesman at a cloth shop in the city's Gausia Market in 1990s. Leaving it, he started a crockery shop business and then a luggage business evading tax.

In one stage, he involved himself with gold smuggling and brought a huge amount of gold here from abroad through illegal routes that famed him as Golden Monir.

Monir was also a land grabber who in collusion with some dishonest officials of RAJUK became the owner of more than 200 plots in DIT Project, Badda, Nikunja, Uttara and Keraniganj areas.

JA/MSU