Suspended DIG Prisons Partha gets 8 years in jail

A Dhaka court on Sunday awarded eight years’ imprisonment to Partha Gopal Banik, a suspended deputy inspector general (prisons) of Sylhet division, in a case filed over recovery of Tk 80 lakh from his Dhanmondi residence in July 2020.

Judge Shaikh Nazmul Alam of the Special Judge’s Court-4 of Dhaka passed the verdict in presence of Partha, the lone accused in the case, at the courtroom.

The court also fined him Tk 50,000, in default of which, he will have to serve three months more in jail.

The court sentenced him to three years of imprisonment as he, being a government official, got involved with corruption while five years for his illegal income, the judge said while delivering the verdict.

Out of the total Tk 80 lakh that recovered from his residence, Tk 65 lakh has been amassed illegally while the rest was earned legally.

The court also asked the authorities concerned to confiscate the Tk 65 lakh illegal amount in favour of the state while Tk 15 lakh will be handed over to the convict's family as those were earn legally.

This is the first ever in Bangladesh that a high-ranked police official was jailed in a graft case, the prosecution said.

In the judgment, the judge said the prosecution was able to prove the charges brought against the accused beyond undoubtedly and he was sentenced in the case.

On July 29 of 2020, Director of Anti-Corruption Commission Mohammad Yousuf quizzed Partha over allegations that he committed irregularities and corruption as DIG (prisons) of Chattogram division.

After interrogation, the ACC team, accompanied by Partha, went to his Green Road residence in the capital and recovered Tk 80 lakh.

On August 24 last year, the ACC Deputy Director Md Salauddin, also investigation officer, submitted the charge sheet to the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka.