Indictment hearing date in Khaleda’s coal mine graft case fixed

A Dhaka court on Thursday set 17 September for holding hearing on charge framing in Barapukuria Coal Mine graft case against Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and others, reports news agency BSS.

Judge AHM Ruhul Imran of Dhaka Special Judge Court-2 passed the order, accepting a time plea from the main accused – Khaleda Zia.

The ACC on 26 February 2008, filed the graft case against Khaleda Zia and 15 others with Shahbagh police station in the capital.

They were accused of causing a loss of Tk 1.59 billion to the state exchequer by awarding a contract for operations of Barapukuria Coal Mine to a Chinese company through abuse of power.

Of the 16, six have already died and their names are expected to be dropped from the case during framing of the charges.