,Ruling Awami League lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi ended up in jail yesterday after a Dhaka court rejected his bail petition in a corruption case. The MP from Cox's Bazar-4 constituency surrendered before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM) Court on expiry of his four-week bail sanctioned by the High Court in the case that the Anti-Corruption Commission had filed charging him with amassing weal
th illegally and concealing information in his wealth statement. As the news spread that Bodi had been sent to jail, leaders and activists of the local Awami League and its associate bodies barricaded the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf highway at 21 points in Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas, demanding his release. That caused the suspension of vehicular movement on the highway from 11:00am for more than five hours, reports our Cox's Bazar correspondent. Protesters also brought out processions and held rallies in the upazilas. Cox's Bazar bus owners stopped operating their vehicles following the blockade, to the sufferings of passengers, especially women, children and Hajj returnees. The district bus owners group's general manager, Ronjit Das, said buses were kept off the roads for security reasons since 11:30am. "Many buses got stuck on the road.” Demonstrators started withdrawing barricades at around 4:00pm and the traffic movement began to ease half an hour later. The police were handling the situation with caution to avert chaos, said Shyamal Kanti Nath, Cox's Bazar superintendent of police. Additional law enforcers were deployed, he added. COURT PROCEEDINGS During the hearing on the petition yesterday, Bodi's lawyer told the court that his client on September 11 surrendered before the HC and got bail for four weeks. The HC asked him to surrender before the Dhaka CMM court on expiry of the period. Showing respect for the HC order, Bodi appeared before it and appealed for fresh bail in the case. Metropolitan Magistrate Md Maruf Hossain rejected the petition and passed an order sending him to jail. Finding evidence against him of gathering wealth illegally and concealing information in his wealth statement submitted to the ACC, it on August 21 filed the case with Ramna Police Station. Criticising the anti-graft body, the MP last month said he would resign if anybody could prove his involvement in corruption. According to the case statement, the lawmaker informed the ACC on March 20 that he along with his wife and children owned movable and immovable properties worth Tk 5.20 crore. But his income tax return showed that they possessed properties worth Tk 16.06 crore till June 30 last year. Five years back his yearly income was only Tk 2 lakh that rose to Tk 15 crore last year, as per his wealth statements submitted to the Election Commission before the 2008 and the January 5 national elections. Bodi has appeared to be the godfather of Yaba trade. He has been named in the list of Yaba smugglers prepared by the home ministry. His three brothers, brother-in-laws and some other relatives have also been listed as traders of the contraband drugs. Bodi had been mired into a deep controversy in his previous term as MP for his unruly and violent activities. Advertisement
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