BNP lawmaker Harun jailed for five years

The Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-4 on Monday sent Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmaker Md Harunur Rashid to jail sentencing him to rigorous imprisonment for five years in a case filed for abusing duty-free car import privilege.

Special judge Shekh Nazmul Alam also fined Harunur Tk 50 lakh.

In the verdict, the court said that Harun, elected from Chapainawabganj-3, would need to serve six more months in jail if he failed to pay the fine.

The court found him guilty for selling Hummer SUV brought in the country using tax-free car import facility in 2005.

The court also jailed private television station Channel 9 chairman and managing director Enayetur Rahman, also former NTV managing director, for two years and with a fine of Tk 1 lakh and businessman Imtiaz Sadeque for three years with a fine of Tk 40 lakh. They were tried in in their absence.

The BNP lawmaker was present during the pronouncement of the judgement and was later sent to Keraniganj jail.

According to the law, no vehicle brought under tax-free import facility can be sold within three years of import. But the BNP leader sold the vehicle to car trader Sadek, who later sold that to Enayetur.

As per the prosecution, Harun imported a duty-free vehicle by Tk 11.65  lakh in 2005 as a lawmaker.

Later, he in collusion with Imtiaz, he sold out the vehicle to Enayetur for Tk 97 lakh.

On March 17, 2017, Tejgaon police sub-inspector Mohammad Yunus Ali of filed a case against Harun and two others during the than military-backed interim government.

The court also framed charges against them in the same year.

On Monday, the court came up with the judgement after examining 17 witnesses on different occasions.

Harun joined the 11th parliament after a long dispute inside his party as the party had primarily announced that its lawmakers would not join the parliament rejecting the elections saying that the elections were rigged and people could not vote in December 30, 2018 elections.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net