Samrat on 6-day remand in graft case

Former Jubo League leader Ismail Hossain Samrat, an alleged kingpin of the illegal casino business in the capital, was placed on a six-day remand today in a case filed over amassing illegal wealth.

Justice KM Emrul Qayesh of Dhaka’s Senior Special Judge’s Court passed the order after Jahangir Hossain, a deputy director of Anti-Corruption Commission and also the investigation officer of the case, produced him before the court seeking his seven days’ remand.    

On November 12, the ACC filed the case against Samrat for amassing wealth worth about Tk 2.95 crore beyond his known sources of income.

Samrat, the expelled Dhaka South Jubo League president, has invested at home and abroad over Tk 1,000 crore in plots, houses, and movie production, according to the ACC.

The case statement says Samrat amassed Tk 1.84 crore till 2018-19 fiscal year. The commission did not find any legal source of the amount.

The ACC also found that he has moveable properties worth Tk 1.11 crore.

Samrat came under the spotlight after Rapid Action Battalion busted his illegal casino business at different sporting clubs in Dhaka. He was expelled from the Jubo League following his arrest.

On October 6, Rab members arrested Samrat and his close aide Enamul Haque Arman, former vice-president of the same unit, in Cumilla after raiding a house near Indian border.

Samrat hailed from an impoverished family of Feni’s Parshuram. Studying up to eighth grade, he became involved in Chhatra League politics in 1990. During the BNP-led four-party rule from 1991 to 1996, he joined the Jubo League and was elected organising secretary of its Dhaka city (South) unit.