Niko graft case: Testimony against Khaleda,7 others begin

A Dhaka court has started recording deposition of prosecution witnesses in Niko graft case lodged against BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and seven others.

Md Mahbubul Alam, plaintiff of the case and then assistant director of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), started testifying to judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman Dhaka Special Judge's Court-9 at Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj on Tuesday.

The court adjourned the hearing till June 20 as the witness did not conclude his deposition.

On March 19, 2023, the court framed charges against the accused. On that day, Khaleda, who is currently free on bail, pleaded not guilty and asked for justice through her counsel Masud Ahmed Talukder.

On December 9, 2007, the anti-graft agency filed a case against five people, including Begum Khaleda Zia, for abusing their power by negotiating a gas exploration and extraction contract with the Canadian firm Niko.

The complaint was made against Khaleda Zia and the other 10 defendants by the ACC on May 5, 2008. The ACC said that by signing the contract, they caused a loss of more than Tk 13,000 crore to the public coffers.

Barrister Moudud Ahmed, AKM Mosharraf Hossain, Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, and Gias Uddin Al are the other defendants in the case.