Probe into casino cases still not complete, how will the trials take place?

During the crackdown on casinos in 2019, the government vowed that whoever the criminal is would not be spared and all would be brought to justice.

Leaders of ruling Awami League and its youth front Jubo League as well as the ward councilors are among who face charges in the cases over the casino scam. Fourteen people were arrested in separate cases with three of them being released on bail and 11 behind bars. And two of these 11 accused are detained officially, but they are receiving treatment at hospital.

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Anti-Corruption Commission filed 55 cases at various police stations in the capital city under various acts including arms, narcotics, money laundering and special power acts and also on charges of accumulating wealth beyond known sources.

RAB and CID filed 32 cases of these cases under arms, narcotics, money laundering and special power acts. Charge sheets have been submitted in 10 out of 14 cases filed under the money laundering act. The charge sheets are pending in four cases including the one filed against Jubo League leader Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat.

The network of the casino masterminds had spread outside Dhaka. Many big names cropped up in the cases, but they remain out of reach. According to reports of Prothom Alo, investigations has not been finished in 20 out of 50 cases. Probe reports have been submitted in the remaining 35 cases, but the trials have mades no progress. The concerned parties use coronavirus as an excuse. But there had been several months before the coronavirus pandemic. If the investigations were conducted properly, the cases would not be pending.

According to Prothom Alo reports, most of the cases pending investigation are related money laundering and amassing of illegal wealth. The agencies that filed the cases have now been trying to save themselves by placing the responsibility on each other. The cases are all related and so the probes should be carried out quickly. Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat and GK Shamim have been arrested in cases over the casinos, but they are staying at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital, making an excuse of being unwell. Sources at the hospital said Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat is being treated for heart ailments and GK Shamim is to undergo surgery.

This is very strange in Bangladesh that in many instances critically ill people in custody, do not get the opportunity to go to hospital for treatment. Writer Mushtaq Ahmed, who was arrested under the Digital Security Act, died in jail recently after falling ill. On the other hand, influential persons like Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat and GK Shamim get the opportunity to spend most of their prison time at hospital on various pretexts.

A Prothom Alo editorial in June last year expressed concern over the slow progress in these investigations. Twenty-nine cases were pending investigation at that time. Now, the number has dropped to 20 since investigation only in nine cases has been completed in 11 months. Investigation is the initial phase of a trial. If investigation isn’t complete, how will the trial take place?

The charge sheets in all cases related to the crackdown on casinos must be submitted immediately. The government must prove its commitment in this regard by bringing all to book.