Casino kingpin Samrat released from jail

Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat
File photo

Expelled Jubo League leader Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat has been granted bail in all four cases, including graft and money laundering, filed against him.

The bail order was sent to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) from Dhaka Central Jail on Wednesday at around 4:30pm. Then jail guards were taken away from his cabin.

However, the BSMMU sources said although he got released from jail, he is not getting clearance certificate from the hospital today, Wednesday.

Dhaka central prison jailer Mahabubul Islam told Prothom Alo that he was released at around 4:30pm after completing all the procedures.

A Dhaka court granted bail to him on Wednesday in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for possessing wealth beyond the known source of income.

The ACC’s public prosecutor said the court has granted the bail until 9 June considering his illness. The court has granted the bail on one condition that Samrat cannot go abroad without any order of the court. He has to submit his passport to the court, he added.

Mosharraf Hossain Kazal further said ACC submitted its points before the court for not considering the bail plea. But the court granted the bail after hearing from both sides.

The court fixed 9 June as the date for his indictment hearing in the case filed by the ACC.

Earlier, on 11 April, Samrat got bail in a case filed under the narcotics control act with Ramna police station in the capital. Dhaka’s seventh additional metropolitan sessions judge court granted the bail.

Before that, on 10 April, the former Jubo League leader got bail in two separate cases filed under the money laundering and the arms acts. Two separate courts in Dhaka granted the bail after hearing that day.

Earlier, on 6 October in 2019, a team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Samrat and his associate Enamul Haque Arman from Chauddagram in Cumilla.

RAB later raided his Kakrail office that day. Huge quantities of foreign liquor, pistols, and two hides of kangaroo were seized from his office.