A Dhaka court sentenced Thursday Harris Chowdhury, a close aide to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, to three years in jail for illegally possessing foreign currency, reports bdnews24.com.
Judge Syed Jahed Mansur of the Dhaka Metropolitan Special Tribunal-9 also fined him Tk 10,000 and ruled that he would have to serve another six months in prison if he failed to pay the fine.
Harris, who served as the political secretary to Khaleda Zia during her latest term in office, has been a fugitive since the present caretaker government took power on January 11.
On February 4, joint forces raided his Gulshan residence and recovered US$2,620, £865 and 6,000 Singapore dollars.
Sub-inspector (SI) Babul Hossain filed a case against Harris with Gulshan police station under the Special Powers Act on April 9.
On June 24, police charged him with illegal possession of foreign currency. The court accepted the police charges on August 6 and started the trial.
Of the 18 prosecution witnesses, 16 testified. Metropolitan Additional Public Prosecutor Md Kabir Hossain represented the state.
Harris is also facing several other charges of corruption and misuse of power.
Harris is at large.
Harris Chy jailed for three years
FE Team | Published: October 05, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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