Move to vacate HC stay order on cases

The High Court in an order in the second week of last month stayed the proceedings of the two cases filed by Nilphamari Head Post Office Post Master Torab Ali after a probe body detected defalcation of huge amounts of money from depositors' accounts.

"We are consulting the solicitor wing of the High Court to vacate the stay order", Reazul Islam, DPMG of Dinajpur Postal Region, told this correspondent on Sunday. Reazul Islam is also in-charge of Rangpur Postal Region.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

Prayer would also be made for cancellation of the bail granted to the accused by the High Court, he said.

Two probe bodies from Dhaka detected misappropriation of Tk 4.30 crore from savings accounts and savings certificates at Nilphamari Head Post Office. The probe started on April 4 and continued till the last week of June this year.

The Post Master of the Nilphamari Head Post Office filed two cases on April 6 and April 13 accusing Assistant Post Master Mir Nural Islam Munna, Ledger Operator Ahmedul Islam Raju and postal operators Taslim Uddin and Liaquat Ali.

He also filed a supplementary case in the third week of June accusing three more employees. They are Abdus Salek, Assistant Post Master of Rangpur Head Post Office; Golam Nabi Sarkar, Assistant Post Master of Gaibandha Head Post Office and Azaharul Islam, Master of Kishoreganj Upazila post office. All of them worked in Nilphamari Head Post Office as postal operator in the past.

Mir Nural Islam Munna, Ahmedul Islam Raju, Taslim Uddin and Liaquat Ali were arrested and remanded.

All the accused prayed to a Magistrate Court and then to the Judge Court in Nilphamari for bail, but were rejected.

Later the three main accused--Mir Nural Islam Munna, Ahmedul Islam Raju, Tashlim Uddin--moved High Court and get bail in the second week of August.

A high official of postal department told this correspondent that from the beginning of the probe since filing the case, they had requested the Public Prosecutor (PP) in Nilphamari to seek a court order to freeze the accused persons' bank accounts and to stop payment from their those.

"We wanted court order to stop handover of moveable and immovable properties of the accused. But the Nilphamari PP did not cooperate", the official said.

Reazul Islam wrote a letter to the PP in this regard. The PP in reply suggested him to apply to the special judge of anti-corruption court in Rangpur.

Talking to this correspondent, the postal official expressed his surprise. "We got a court order in Gaibandha to freeze accounts of accused persons and to stop handover of properties. If it is possible in Gaibandha why not in Nilphamari", an official said while talking to this correspondent.

They said the DPGM In-charge also wrote a letter earlier (before the HC stay order) to Nilphamari Deputy Commissioner alleging that the postal department was not getting cooperation from the PP in connection with the scam.

When asked, the DC on Sunday admitted receipt of the letter but said he has nothing to do as the High Court stayed the proceedings of the cases.

Meanwhile commercial banks here have not yet responded to an order by higher postal authorities in Dhaka to give statements of accounts of the accused persons and to stop payments from those.

Only Pubali Bank replied to the order, saying it would neither provide any information on its clients' accounts nor stop payments from their accounts without court order.

Sources here claimed that the accused persons have big amounts with banks.

The probe body also detected saving certificates worth more than Tk 1.5 crore in names of wives and wards of some accused.