https://bdnews24.com/politics/71d2fa07f4a5

A Dhaka court has acquitted BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman's former aide Miah Nuruddin Ahmad Apu in a money laundering case.

Judge Md Rezaul Karim of Dhaka Special Judge's Court-10 passed the order after a hearing on the acceptance of charges on Monday.

The charge-framing hearing in the complaint was set for this date, his Lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukder said.

A plea was filed seeking Apu’s release during the hearing. On the other hand, the prosecution opposed the petition.

After hearing both sides, the court freed him as no substance was found in the allegations, Masud said.

Apu was the former vice-president of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal’s Jagannath University unit.

According to the case statement, the Rapid Action Battalion, or RAB, raided Nafiz Enterprise and United Corporations Ltd in Dhaka’s Motijheel and arrested the latter’s Managing Director AM Ali Haider four days before the 11th parliamentary election on Dec 30, 2018. Over Tk 31 million was seized from the firms during the operation.

According to information provided by Haider, another Tk 50 million was confiscated from the City Money Exchange at Baitul Khair Tower on Paltan's House Building Road afterwards.

The elite force also arrested Joynal Abedin and Alamgir Hossain along with Tk 465,650 from Apu's business firm Amena Enterprise and Services Ltd at Gulshan.

At that time, the RAB had said that Haider's uncle Mahmudul Hasan was a close friend of Apu. In an attempt to influence the election, Tk 1.5 billion was brought from abroad through Hundi, out of which Tk 35 million was sent to Apu.

RAB-3 Naib Subedar Ibrahim Hossain initiated the case at the Motijheel Police Station under the Money Laundering Prevention Act.

CID's Financial Crimes Inspector Ibrahim Hossain submitted the charge sheet against seven people in 2021. Since then, the hearing of the case has been deferred due to various reasons.