RAB official testifies in arms case against Papia, her husband

A Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officer, also a plaintiff in the arms case filed against expelled Awami Jubo Mohila League Narsingdi district unit general secretary Shamima Nur Papia and her husband Mofizur Rahman Sumon, testified before a Dhaka court on Tuesday.

The court of Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge KM Emrul Kayesh recoded the statement of RAB deputy assistant general (DAD) Shafiqul Islam and fixed Wednesday for the next hearing in the case, reports news agency UNB.

With the RAB deputy assistant general, two witnesses, out of 12, have made their depositions before the court.

Earlier, RAB deputy inspector Saiful Alam testified before the court on Monday.

On 23 August, a Dhaka court framed charges against Papia and her husband in the arms case. The court also rejected their petition to clear them from the charges.

On 29 June, sub-inspector Md Arifuzzaman submitted the charge sheet to Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court in the case filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station in the capital against them.

Twelve people were made witnesses in the case.

Earlier, on 23 February, RAB members raided two flats belonging to Papia and Sumon after arresting them at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on the previous day.

The law enforcement men seized counterfeit notes, foreign currencies and around Tk 250,000 from their possession. They also recovered around Tk 5.8 million raiding their two flats at Indira Road in Dhaka and also a presidential suite at a five-star hotel in the capital.

Apart from the lavish flats in Dhaka, Papia and Sumon, a former Chhatra League leader, own two more flats and two plots, worth around Tk 20 million, in Narsingdi and a number of luxurious cars.

Three cases were filed -- two with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station under the arms act and the special powers acts while another with Airport police station under the Special Powers Act-1974.

On 4 August, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed a case against Papia and her husband for embezzlement of Tk 62.4 million.