Graft Case: Khoka, three others jailed for 10 years

A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced former Dhaka City Corporation mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka and three others to 10 years' imprisonment in absentia in a graft case.

Besides, Khoka was fined Tk 20 lakh, while three others were fined Tk 10 lakh each.

The other convicts are Abdul Baten, president of DCC supermarket in Banani; Mahmudul Hassan Azad, its general secretary; and AHM Tareque, manager of the market's parking lot.

Before declaring the verdict, the judge dismissed time petitions and cancelled bail for the three. Arrest warrants were also issued for them.

After cross-examining all 10 prosecution witnesses, Judge Mizanur Rahman Khan, special judge for Dhaka division, handed down the sentence.

The punishment of the fugitives will be effective from the day of their arrest or surrender, the judge said in the judgment.

Khoka, also a BNP leader who is currently in London for treatment, was shown fugitive in the case.

On February 15, 2012, Mahbubul Alam, assistant director of the Anti-Corruption Commission, filed the case with Shahbagh police against the four for misappropriating Tk 26 lakh from public funds and causing a loss of another Tk 11 lakh to it.

According to the ACC official, Khoka in collusion with the trio pocketed Tk 26,14,900, which they had collected in parking charges from the market between 2003 and 2011.

Khoka also caused a loss of Tk 11.05 lakh to the public exchequer by cancelling tenders for the parking lot in 2003 and 2005. The cancellation of the tender was a violation of the Dhaka City Corporation rules.

ACC Deputy Director Nur Hossain Khan pressed charges against the four on November 7, 2012.

On October 20, 2015, Khoka was given 13 years' imprisonment in another case filed for amassing wealth illegally and concealing wealth statement to the ACC.