Papia, husband indicted in arms case

Shamima Nur Papia, the expelled general secretary of Narsingdi Juba Mahila League, and her husband Mofizur Rahman Sumon have been charged in an arms case. 

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Kayes framed the charges against the couple on Sunday.

Papia and Mofizur, now in jail. The tribunal fixed August 31 to start trial of the case.

The court also rejected their petition to acquit them from the charges.

Earlier on June 29, sub-inspector Md Arifuzzaman submitted the chargesheet in the case filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station against them to Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

Twelve people were made witnesses in the case.

On February 23, members of the Rapid Action Battalion raided two flats belonging to Papia and Sumon after arresting them at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on February 22.

RAB men seized counterfeit notes, foreign currencies and around Tk 2.5 lakh.

They also recovered around Tk 58 lakh raiding two flats at Indira Road in Dhaka and also a presidential suite at a five-star hotel in the capital.

Apart from the lavish flats in Dhaka, Papia and Sumon, a former Chhatra League leader, own two more flats and two plots, worth around Tk 2 crore, in Narsingdi and a number of luxurious cars.

Later, three cases were filed -- two with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station under the Arms Act and the Special Powers Acts while another with Airport Police Station under the Special Powers Act-1974.

On August 4, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case against Papia and her husband for embezzlement of Tk 6.24 crore.

Inputs with UNB