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A Dhaka court has sentenced Saima Wazed Putul, daughter of the ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to five years in prison in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over alleged plot fraud in the Purbachal project.
Public Prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam said that Judge Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun of Dhaka Special Judge Court-5 delivered the verdict today, Thursday.
Other accused in the case include:
Former Minister of Housing and Public Works Sharif Ahmed, former secretaries Shahid Ullah Khandaker and Kazi Wasi Uddin, former administrative officer Saiful Islam Sarkar, former senior assistant secretary Purabi Goldar, former RAJUK Chairman Md. Anisur Rahman Miah, former members Md. Khurshid Alam, Mohammad Nasir Uddin, Shamsuddin Ahmed Chowdhury, Tanmay Das, Nurul Islam, Kabir Al Asad, and former deputy directors Sheikh Shahinul Islam, Hafizur Rahman, Habibur Rahman Sabuj, and Mohammad Salahuddin.
At the time of the verdict, only Md. Khurshid Alam was present in the courtroom.
In addition to this case, the court today also sentenced Sheikh Hasina to a total of 21 years in prison in two other cases.
In this particular case, housing official Saiful Islam Sarkar was acquitted. The rest received various prison terms.
Excluding the three cases decided today, the verdict in another corruption case—filed against Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, and her niece, British MP Tulip Siddiq, along with 17 others—will be announced on December 1 in Dhaka Special Judge Court-4.
According to the prosecution, two other corruption cases filed against Hasina, her nieces Azmina Siddiq and Tulip, and her nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, along with 21 others, are still under trial in the same court.
ACC officials said that Tulip, an accused in three cases, allegedly used her influence to obtain plots for her mother Rehana, Bobby, and Azmina.
Between January 12 and 14, the ACC filed six separate cases at its Dhaka Integrated District Office-1 over alleged irregularities in plot allocations under the Purbachal New Town Project.
According to the ACC, in collusion with senior RAJUK officials, Sheikh Hasina illegally obtained six 10-katha plots in Sector 27’s diplomatic zone of the Purbachal project for her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, sister Sheikh Rehana, and Rehana’s children Bobby and Azmina, although they were not eligible under existing regulations.
On March 25, the ACC submitted six charge sheets to the Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Court. Hasina was made a primary accused in all six cases. Later, on July 31, charges were framed against 29 accused, including Hasina, Rehana, Joy, Putul, Bobby, Tulip, and Azmina.
