Indictment hearing in Khaleda’s Niko graft case adjourned till Dec 7

Bangladesh desk: A court in Dhaka on Thursday adjourned the hearing on charge framing in Niko graft case against BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and others till December 7.

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka 9th Special Judge Court passed the order as the defence continued their part of hearing but failed to conclude it today. Defence counsel Advocate Masud Ahammed Talukder took part in the hearing for Khaleda Zia, BSS reports.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against five including Begum Khaleda Zia with Tejgaon Police Station on December 9 in 2007, for abusing power in signing a deal with Canadian company Niko for exploring and extracting gas.

The ACC on May 5, 2008, 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.

The other accused in the case are- Barrister Moudud Ahmed, AKM Mosharraf Hossain, Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, Khandaker Shahidul Islam, CM Eusuf Hossain, Mir Moinul Haque, Md Shafiur Rahman, Gias Uddin Al Mamun, MAH Selim and Kashem Sharif.