Niko graft case: Charges framed against Khaleda Zia

A Dhaka court has framed charges against BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia in Niko graft case.

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman on Sunday passed the order at a temporary courtroom of the Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-9 at Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.

The trial has begun formally after the charges against Khaleda Zia were formed. 

The court fixed May 23 as the date of deposition and also issued an arrest warrant against Selim Bhuiyan, an accused of the case, as he didn’t appear before it.

Public Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajal and Khaleda’s lawyer Zia Uddin Zia confirmed the matter to Jago News.

Muhammad Mahbubul Alam, the then Assistant Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against five including 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 four other accused are former Acting Secretary of Fuel and Mineral Resources Ministry Shahidul Islam, former Senior Assistant Secretary C M Yousuf Hossain, businessman Gias Uddin Al Mamun and International Travel Corporation Chairman Selim Bhuiyan.

The ACC on May 5 in 2018 submitted the charge-sheet against 11 people including Khaleda Zia. 

The ACC accused them of incurring a loss of more than Taka 13 thousand crore of state exchequer by that deal.