Bangladesh’s Interpol desk has requested its Indian counterpart to extradite PK Halder and five others arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).
Anti-Corruption Commission Director General Sayeed Mahbub Khan said this at a press briefing at the ACC headquarters yesterday afternoon.
Upon learning about the arrests of Halder and his five accomplices in India, Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) of Bangladesh sent an email to the Interpol NCB of India to extradite them to Bangladesh, he said.
“The ACC will also communicate with the Bangladesh embassy in India and write to Bangladesh’s home ministry for their extradition.”
The anti-graft watchdog will send a letter to Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit to collect information about the money laundered to India, he added.
Mahbub also mentioned that an arrest warrant was issued against Halder in a case filed on January 8, 2020, for amassing illegal wealth worth Tk 275 crore. Besides, a Red Notice was issued by the Interpol as he was on the run.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said the government would do everything necessary as per the “set procedures” regarding Halder, reports UNB.
“We have set procedures. We will work accordingly. We will do whatever is necessary,” he told reporters, noting that his ministry is yet to receive any information on Halder’s arrest from the Indian government.
In reply to a question, he said top Ulfa leader Anup Chetia was handed over to India after trial and punishment in Bangladesh.
“The same procedures are likely to be followed, but I don’t know. Probably, the law ministry knows better.
“We have a good intention [to get PK Halder back],” Momen said, hoping that India will listen to Bangladesh’s request on a priority basis as the two countries are passing “a golden era” in their relations.
In November 2005, Bangladesh handed over Chetia to India 18 years after his arrest in Dhaka for trespassing.
Chetia, a founding member of one of India’s top insurgent groups United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), had been in prison since his arrest in Mohammadpur on December 21, 1997. He was released after completion of his jail term.
According to sources in India, the ED is likely to produce Halder and five others before a court dealing with cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act today, seeking extension of their remand.
It has been quizzing Halder, ex-managing director of NRB Global Bank, on remand since Saturday following the arrest the same day.
Halder, who was at the centre of scams through which Tk 10,200 crore had been siphoned from four non-banking financial institutions, fled Bangladesh in 2019.
He moved to Ashoknagar of North 24-Parganas, posing as an Indian national under the alias Shibshankar Halder and acquired real estate in West Bengal. He used to introduce himself as a real estate promoter and financial expert.
DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA
The ED is probing whether any influential people in India helped Halder stay in Ashoknagar after he had sneaked into the country from Bangladesh.
“We are checking if PK Halder and his associates received support from any influential person in the state [West Bengal] in obtaining Indian passport and identity cards through forged documents. This is not possible without the involvement of locals.
“We will also examine if money was channelled through any influential person or any other means as he floated some companies in here also,” said a source in the ED on the condition of anonymity.
ED officials came to know that Halder’s close aide Sukumar Mridha, purportedly a fish trader, provided him with logistic support in Ashoknagar.
“Sukumar was a fish trader with good local connections. His daughter and son-in-law helped Halder to a great extent. We have come to know that money has been channelled to their accounts also,” said the ED source.
Earlier on Friday, the ED raided the houses of Mridha and his son-in-law in Ashoknagar town. They were arrested and the ED seized several documents.
Halder took the help of Mridha to acquire property and got into Ashoknagar’s real estate network.
‘INDIA DESERVES THANKS’
Expressing satisfaction over the arrests of Halder and his cohorts, a bench of Bangladesh’s High Court has said the Indian government should be thanked for this.
“Our message is clear. We have zero tolerance for any kind of money laundering and corruption. No corrupt or money launderers will be spared,” the bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo said yesterday.
The bench made the observation after Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik told it about media reports on Halder’s arrest in West Bengal.
He requested the HC to set a date for hearing the pending suo muto (voluntary) rule issued on November 19, 2020, over the government steps to arrest Halder.
The court said the matter will be included in today’s hearing list.
On November 19, 2020, the HC bench led by Justice Nazrul wanted to know what steps had been taken to arrest Halder and bring him home.
