Arms case trial against Papia, her husband begins

The trial on an arms case filed against expelled leader of Jubo Mohila League Shamima Nur Papia and her husband Mofizur Rahman began today at a tribunal in Dhaka with deposition of a prosecution witness.

Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of the Special Tribunal-1 recorded the statement of Sub-Inspector Md Saiful Islam of Rapid Action Battilion-1, who prepared a seizure-list of the arms case.

After the court recorded his statement, defence lawyer sought time to cross-examine the witness. The tribunal then fixed tomorrow for cross-examination.

In his statement, the witness told the court that on February 23, a team of Rab including him raided Papia's Indira Road house in Farmgate and recovered a foreign pistol, two magazines, 20 bullets, five bottles of foreign liquor, Tk 58,41,000 in cash and credit and debit cards of different banks.

Later, he prepared a seizure list in front of the witnesses, Saiful added.

Before that, Papia, her husband -- a former Chhatra League leader -- and their two accomplices were arrested from Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on February 22 when they were trying to leave the country.

Rab members recovered seven passports, Tk 2,12,270, fake notes worth Tk 25,600, $11,481, 420 Sri Lankan rupees, 301 Indian rupees, and two debit cards from their possession.

On August 23, the same tribunal framed charges against the couple in the case.

On June 29, Sub-Inspector Arifuzzaman at Rab, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case, submitted the charge sheet against the couple to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka.

Three cases were filed against the couple with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station under the arms and special powers acts, while another case was lodged with Biman Bandar Police Station under the Special Powers Act.

Another case was filed against the four -- the couple and their two accomplices -- with Gulshan Police Station under the Money Laundering Prevention Act.

On August 4, the Anti-Corruption Commission lodged a case against Papia and her husband for amassing about Tk 6.24 crore illegally.