The New Nation - Internet Edition

Bdnews24.com, Dhaka

Former BNP minister Nazmul Huda Thursday denied wrongdoing in allotting a railway plot to an organisation run by his wife at a token price.

In a deposition in the Special Judge's Court-5 of M Ashraf Hossain, the ex-communications minister in Khaleda administration pleaded not guilty.

"I have not committed any crime by allotting a plot of derelict railway land. The railway authorities were benefited through the deal," said Huda, a barrister, in a written statement.

Referring to the so-called 'minus-two formula', Huda said," This case has been filed just to neutralise me as I was a close colleague of [former prime minister] Khaleda Zia."

"Do you think my political career would depend on the whims of the chief adviser or my political opponents? Or will it depend upon the people's will?" the ex-lawmaker asked.

On March 21, Anticorruption Commission deputy director Shafiqul Islam filed the case against Huda, charging him with corruption in land allocation. The case details said he had abused his official authority as a communications minister to allot 14 katha of railway land to his wife Sigma Huda's organisation 'Manobadhikar Bastobayon Sangsthha' at a token price of Tk 5001.

It cost the government roughly Tk 7.84 crore in losses, the case said.

On July 23, ACC assistant director Mirza Jahidul Alam submitted charge sheet in the case in Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court for Dhaka.

On Aug 12, a special judge's court framed charges and witnesses starting testifying on Aug 20. A total of 27 prosecution witnesses testified until Sept 12. On August 27, a court handed down seven years jail term to Huda and three years to his wife in a bribery case.