The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Thursday finally approved a charge sheet against detained former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, her son Arafat Rahman Koko and 22 others, including eight former ministers, in the Global Agro Trade (Private) Company Ltd (GATCO) corruption case.

The ACC Director General (Admin) Col Hanif Iqbal revealed this in the Commission's regular briefing yesterday afternoon, barely four days after the immediate-past PM was charge-sheeted in the Niko scam case.

The accused were responsible for costing the state coffers Tk 14.56 crore in losses, which was proved in the initial investigation, he said.

The eight ministers of the immediate-past Khaleda government who are going to be charge-sheeted are Saifur Rahman, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan,

Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, MK Anwar, M Shamsul Islam, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and AKM Mosharaff Hossain.

These eight ministers and three others were not implicated in the first-information report (FIR).

The ACC Deputy Director Golam Shahriar Chowdhury filed the FIR with Tejgaon police station on September 2, 2007 against 13 persons, alleging that GATCO's contract to run the container depot at Chittagong Port was illegal.

The case record shows that a tender was floated on March 1, 2003 to appoint a contractor for the container depots at Chittagong Port and Kamalapur Rail station.

The accused awarded the tender to GATCO even though the company failed to meet all the conditions.

It was alleged in the case that the government incurred more than Tk 1,000 crore in losses because of the GATCO deal.

The case was brought under the emergency powers rules on Sept 17.

The three others going to be charge-sheeted along with the ministers are former Shipping secretary Julfiker Haider Chowdhury, former member of Chittagong Port Authority Rashid Uddin Ahmed and GATCO company Director Shajahan M Hasib.

The involvement of the additional 11 individuals was found during two-month-long investigations.

Khaleda's son Arafat Rahman Koko also stands accused of corruption in the case.

Khaleda was arrested on Sept 3 in connection with the case.

The 24 individuals along with initially accused 13 persons will be charged with violating tender terms in appointing GATCO, an indenting house, for container handling at Dhaka Inland Container Depot and the Chittagong Port ICD yard despite its lack of experience and skills.

During the long-running investigations, it was also found that Coco and Ismail Hossain Simon, another accused, made "illegal financial gains amounting to Tk 2.2 crore in return for giving the tender to GATCO.

The initially accused 13 persons are Khaleda, Coco, Zulfiqar Ali, AN Sarwar Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Ahmed Abul Kashem, Lutful Kabir, Ismail Hossain Saimon, Galib Ahmed, Tanvir Ahmed, AKM Musa Kajol, Mrs Jahanara Akbar and Ehsan Yusuf.

Responding to a question, Hanif said in the briefing that along with other provisions, the Emergency Power Rules (EPR) 2007 would be used in submitting the charge sheet.

This will be the second charge sheet to be submitted against Khaleda.

A charge sheet was submitted against her along with 10 others on Monday in the Niko graft case.

Her elder son, BNP senior joint secretary general Tarique Rahman, was charge-sheeted the following day along with others in a Tk 21-crore bribery case.

The chargesheet in GATCO case, however, will be the first against Khaleda's younger son, Coco. Both her sons are now in jail.

The anti-graft watchdog took a long time in taking a decision to submit the charge-sheet in the much-talked-about GATCO case based on which Khaleda and Coco were arrested from their Cantonment residence on September 3 last year.

ACC Deputy Director Jahirul Huda, the investigating officer, actually submitted the investigation report of the case at the beginning of November.

For last few months, the Commission's version has been that it would wait until the Appellate Division verdict on the High Court's ruling declaring the use of Emergency Power Rules (EPR) illegal in an extortion case against another detained former Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday overturned the High Court verdict.

The ACC did not waste time in deciding about submission of chargesheet using provision of the tough Emergency Power Rules (EPR).