Shawdesh desk:

A Dhaka court started recording deposition of prosecution witnesses in Niko graft case against BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and seven others.

Plaintiff of the case and then assistant director of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) started testifying as the first PW at Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-9 at Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj. At the end of today’s proceedings, judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman adjourned the hearing till June 20 as the witness failed to conclude his deposition today.

The court on March 19, 2023, framed charges against the accused. Khaleda, who is now on bail, pleaded not guilty through her lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukder on that day and demanded justice.

The anti-graft body filed the case against five, including Begum Khaleda Zia, with Tejgaon police station on December 9, 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 causing a loss of more than Taka 13 thousand crore to state exchequer by signing that deal.

The other accused in the case include Barrister Moudud Ahmed, AKM Mosharraf
Hossain, Kamal Uddin Siddiqui and Gias Uddin Al Mamun.