Plaintiff demands exclusion of Gowhar Jamil from charge sheet

Our Correspondent CHITTAGONG, Nov 17: Complainant of a case filed against the deputy director of the anti-corruption commission (ACC) has alleged that the investigation officer of the case was trying to save the government official by including managing director of Four H Group of Industries in the charge sheet. At a press conference organized in the city Nowshad Chowdhury, commercial manager of the Four H Group, said he had filed the case with the local police against the DD of the ACC MM Sabbir Hasan for forcing him to pay Tk 1.0 million as bribe which was filmed in a mini camera of the complainant. But the investigation officer, also deputy director of rapid action battalion (Rab-10), squadron leader Tauhidul Islam included Gowhar Siraj Jamil, the MD of Four H Group, as accused in the charge sheet. Tauhidul Islam included Mr Jamil in the charge sheet as 'instigator' in the bribe case and also accused him as money launderer which is false, fabricated and motivated with the intention to save the ACC DD, Nowshad Chowdhury said in his written statement at the press conference. "Had Mr Jamil been a money launderer he would not have called the law enforcement agency, RAB members, to catch ACC official Sabbir Hasan red-handed along with the money he took from me on January 23 last," Nowshad Chowdhury told the conference. The person who dared to help law enforcers to arrest a corrupt official of the ACC red-handed with the graft money has now been accused in the charge sheet. "It has been done with an ill motive to save the corrupt ACC official," the plaintiff of the case alleged. The complainant Nowshad Chowdhury demanded exclusion of the name of Gowhar Siraj Jamil, MD of Four H Group, from the charge sheet. Jamil was given an award by the ministry of Labour and Employment for best compliance in 2009 and 2010 and has been nominated commercially important person (CIP) in 2007 and from 2009 until today. Four H Group, a leading garment exporter of the country, imported 388 roll knit fabrics worth Tk 5.0 million from China on 6 May 2010 through letter of credit and paid the money to the supplier through bank. The Chittagong Port Authority and Customs Authority made physical inspection of the consignment, submitted bill of entry and specimen of the fabrics was duly submitted to the Customs authority, the complainant said. During delivery of the consignment following all Customs formalities the C&F agent of the importer found a container of the consignment filled with sand and concrete instead of fabrics and so lodged a case against Chittagong Port Authority claiming compensation which is now under trial in the court. The court ordered investigation of the case and DD of the ACC MM Sabbir Hasan was assigned to probe the case. Sabbir claimed Tk 5.0 million from the Four H Group MD for giving the investigation report in favour of Four H Group. The press conference was addressed by the company's legal advisor Houssain Al-Ashkari, deputy general managers MAG Hannan and AKM Helaluzzaman and senior officers Morshed Chowdhury and Md Shahed Ali.