A special tribunal Tuesday sentenced former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar to 17 years of imprisonment for possessing illegal arms and ammunition, reports UNB.
The court awarded him a 10-year jail term under Section 19 (a) and 7 years under Section 19 (f) of the Arms Act. The punishment will run concurrently.
Joint forces in a raid of his Gulshan residence arrested Babar on May 28. Firearms including a shotgun, two pistols and a revolver, two magazines and 297 bullets were seized from the house during the raid.
Babar failed to show any valid document for a revolver and 25 bullets.
On June 3, a case was filed with the Gulshan police station against Babar for possessing illegal arms and ammunition.
Judge Syed Zahed Mansur after examining records and 14 witnesses, out of 16, handed down the verdict at about 12:45pm.
This is the first case in which the former state minister for Home Affairs convicted. He faces more than half a dozen criminal and corruption cases.
Known as a Young Turk in BNP, Babar was closely linked with Hawa Bhaban and its supremo Tarique Rahman, eldest son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia.
Babar had held the portfolio of Home Ministry until the end of the tenure of the BNP-Jamaat alliance government in October last year.
Babar gets 17 yrs in jail for possessing arms
FE Team | Published: October 31, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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